Canberra

We took a 3.5 hour bus ride from Sydney to Canberra, the capitol of Australia, to see all the federal museums and buildings. We spent a total of 2.5 days there and went to 4 huge museums/exhibits/buildings - who knew walking around could be so exhausting!

View of Canberra's layout from the top of Mount Ainslie:

We started at the War Memorial. It was a beautiful building and there was an awesome kids section that had uniforms and stages set up. Of course, this is where I gravitated after looking through all the real exhibits.

WWI:

Photos from the Vietnam War:

The Cold War:

The next day we went to Parliament, then an art gallery! Parliament was beautiful and we had a great tour.

Parliament is aligned perfectly with the old Parliament bulding and the War Memorial across the river. This is to remind politicians of the freedoms and rights that soldiers have died to preserve, and which they must uphold in all their legislation. Here's the front of Parliament:

The inner atrium is gorgeous! There's such beautiful woodwork all through Australia:
The House of Representatives is a blue-themed room, and there are 156 (I believe) representations from the different states and territories.

The Senate has a pink-theme. Teehee! These colors are REAL!

Standing on the roof of Parliament with Coop and looking to the south of the city (here's dress number 5!):

Standing on the roof! They have a beautiful grass lawn on the roof (crazy) and behind us you can see the War Memorial and Old Parliament building in the background.

The huge flag on top of Parliament - it's large enough that you can hide a double-decker bus behind the flag!

The last day in Canberra, we went to the AWESOME National Museum! It covered Australian history in amazing detail and had tons of amazing exhibits. It also had a really great current exhibit on what the present state of Australia is like, and how this might change in the future. It had lots of really interesting artifacts and a really great way of presenting it. Here's the inner courtyard:

Cool speakers that isolate sound so you can watch a video without bugging everyone else!

Fire prevention in Australia:

This truck is used for catching wild buffalo:

Crazy statue outside the museum:

We then flew from Canberra back to Brisbane in the afternoon, and ended up watching Big Game in the airport using someone's laptop and some speakers:

We were definitely pretty rowdy, but no one in the waiting area begrudged us our game because they could tell it was REALLY IMPORTANT. And then, in the last 30 seconds... well, I don't want to talk about it, it's too painful. But anyways, we settled down pretty quickly after the end of the game and had a nice quiet flight back to Brisbane. Now we're beginning the lecture series for the class - it isn't ALL fun and games (only 95% fun and games), but we're in the nicest facilities EVER! We're staying on the University of Queensland campus in dorms, and we get our OWN ROOMS. After living in research station bunks or hostels, it's so nice to have a little personal space. We'll be here for the remaining time in Brisbane and I'm so excited for what's still to come!

It Keeps Getting Better!

We headed to Bondi Beach – for CLASS – and had 4 hours of free time to wander around. I seriously can’t believe this is part of school! They had $10 bathing suits and awesome burgers, so I shopped a bit with the girls and feasted on an avocado, bacon, and cheese burger. It was perfection!! The weather was a bit breezy and chilly so we didn’t really want to stick around on the beach too much anyways, but we hiked around the shoreline and saw an awesome sculpture. It was really fun and super beautiful!

Dress number 3:

We then went on a walk around La Parousse, which is where Botany Bay is located and the first European settlers landed. We went on a walk with Vick, who is an aboriginal elder and he told us about the history of the people in that region.

The Powerhouse Museum was pretty interesting, it had lots of gadgets and technological innovations. Planes, trains and automobiles in Australia:

Crazy avante-gard garbage exhibit:

Then we went to the Aquarium!! We had a gorgeous walk through downtown Sydney

AND I SAW DUGONGS AND PLATYPUS!!! YAAAAAAAAYYY =)

Entering the aquarium:

Platypus video!! SO CUTE!

Sleeping dugong:

My boyfriend in Sydney (he and Lisa got along pretty well too, but he was definitely into me):

Huge skate:

Delicious pizza for dinner! This is half roast duck with sesame, half EMU. That's right, EMU PIZZAAAA and it was so tasty!

We also went to the New South Wales Art Gallery:

And walked around the botanical gardens:

Then we visited old Convict barracks that afternoon. Here we are in the convict hammocks:

And finally we went to a nearby club to go dancing. I love this group of people and I have the best time with them! Here are photos from a few nights of going out (hence the different outfits):

Dress number 1 reappears:

Dress number 4!

Sydney!

Ok, bear with me folks - this is a LONG POST. So if nothing else, please at least look at the pictures!

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I LOVE THIS CITY. It's the most beautiful, green, clean, friendly, wonderful city in the WORLD. EVER. The last four days have been absolutely perfect and I'm really looking forward to spending even more time in this amazing place!

We arrived at the Big Hostel on Friday afternoon and settled into our rooms. Mine is super comfortable - it has AC, a tiny TV, and 2 of the 5 beds are full sized mattresses instead of twins! I'm rooming with Lisa, Jocelyn, Coop, and Helen, and it's so fun! We went out the first night to a couple clubs, and apparently traveling as a group of 13 attractive girls means that you get free drinks from the club promoters. Crazy!! We saw a really great live band at the second bar and they were really nice. It felt like Warped Tour but underground!

Photo with the band:


Saturday was basically just an exploring and shopping day. We walked along the main street and I bought four dresses! YAY! We also went to some outdoor markets in The Rocks, which is the neighboorhood across from the Opera House.
The Opera House! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL! And it's not bright white - more like a light tan color



Super delicious feta, spinach, and chicken turkish meal:


Under "The Rocks" sign:


The Rocks market:


Christmas stuff! I'M ALREADY SO EXCITED!


Just because I love this picture, and because I want to show off one my new dresses (P.S. Don't worry dad, that's a lemonade - aka Sprite - in my hand):

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On Sunday we to the ferry to Manly Beach (haha funny name!) and walked along the coast, just looking at the harbor and all the beautiful houses. We also went to the beach briefly and just took in the sights. I met a really sweet couple on the ferry ride over - the woman was Taiwanese and her husband was Australia. Mom and Dad, they kind of reminded me of you two! They were really feisty and told me all about the sights from the ferry so I could orient myself and learn a little of the history.

Delicious sweet corn we had for brunch:

Photos from the ferry ride:




Snuffling little pig-dog! He was adorable and SO UGLYYYYY!

Photos from our walk around Manly Beach:




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On Monday, we went to the Australia Museum in the morning and learned about Aboriginal history. I thought it was a pretty tame exhibit - there wasn't much condemnation of all the terrible atrocities committed against Aboriginals, and I think we were supposed to see how Australians choose to view this issue so we can better understand the challenges that Aboriginals still face.

There was also a wonderful dinosaur exhibit! YAY! And lots of crazy Australian animals were featured. Here's an Aboriginal interpretation of the three wise men (left) and the last supper (right):
Marsupial skeletons:
Lisa posing with some tiny flying mice!
Piggy-back rides by the Goana:

Posing like dinosaurs:


And then of course, Monday night we had BING DINNER! It was super delicious and beautiful! We ate a restaurant right next to the Opera house and had 3 courses, with wine included and lots of fabulous conversation. Everyone looked amazing! We took lots of photos, ate dinner, then moseyed over to see the ballet Concord at the Sydney Opera House. That's right, Bing Dinner included a show at the Sydney Opera House!!!!! Unfortunately, we were about 5 minutes LATE so we had to wait outside for about 45 minutes. There was a huge thunderstorm going on at the same time, so we all went outside and admired the beautiful sunset west over the city, and the thunderstorm east over the harbor. It was truly magical and I still can't believe so many beautiful things were happening at once. I AM SO BLESSED!

Lisa and me (here's another of my new dresses!):

New Zealand crowd (we're signing "Love NZ"):
All the ladies in front of the Harbor Bridge:
The 12 men, being manly men:

The proposal I've been planning my whole life:
Wedding photo!

Eric in the sunset:
Evan and me:
Concord! This is the ballet we saw, and I really liked it!

Night photos of the city - we ended up walking out over the Harbor Bridge after the show and Sydney is just as beautiful at night as it is during the day!