Sydney: My travels to the infamous Australian city.

Sydney is amazing.  It's everything that people talk about.  It's huge and touristy, and full of great food and drinks like any big city is.  It is home to the iconic Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and several other touristy landmarks.  It's also full of rubbish, high strung and busy people, and a ton of cigarette smoke.  Not exactly, the most pristine of places.  However, the city is gorgeous and is certainly a place that I loved and will definitely return to.

The instant I arrived in Sydney, I was instantly taken back by the sky-high buildings, the harbour, and the hustle and bustle of people needing to be places, and the needing to be there right now. Certainly a drastic change from the "la dee dah" lifestyle of Cairns.  I went from boardies and flip-flops, to suits and heels in 3 hours.  Quite a difference.

During my stay in Sydney, I went to the Sydney Opera House, had a beer at the Opera Bar, saw the Harbour Bridge, stayed in the Marriott on Circular Quay, stayed in a studio apartment on Darling Harbour, went to Wild Life Sydney Zoo, went on a Jet Boat Cruise, ate at fabulous restaurants, and enjoyed many a Happy Hour drink ($20 Mojito Jugs = Lifeisgreat).  I had an incredibly fantastic time in Sydney and was undeniably very, very spoiled.

Sydney Opera House.
Not bad for a photo off an iPhone 4!
I attribute it all to my fabulous photography skills.

Opera House Organic Pale Ale.  

Driving over the Harbour Bridge!
Certainly lost it's novelty when driving over it a 3rd, 4th, and 5th time due to bad google map directions.
Curse you google.

Happy Hour Mojito Jugs. yumyumyum.
 
Before our Jet Boat Cruise.

Surprise reservations at the Marriott.
I'm a lucky girl.

Room view. #poshliving 

Overall I was in Sydney, and the Sydney area, for a week with Aaron. Yessssss, for those who don't know, Aaron is the aussie boyfriend.  I knowwww. Everyone told me I would go to Australia and meet an Aussie and never come back and blah dee blah blah.....well, half of that is true... at the moment anyway hehehe.  But in all honesty, he's an amazing guy and quite a gem. :)  Aaron and I spent our week holiday in the city, on the Central Coast, (Avoca and Kincumber), and a bit north of Newcastle in Anna Bay.  All 3 places were all very different, and all very beautiful!

Avoca Beach:

Anna Bay: 

Okay, technically Shoal Bay here.  Same area(ish).

An amazing time in the Sydney area overall.

The only disappointment in the trip, however, was the terrible circumstances that led to me not going to Stereosonic...the main reason for the Sydney trip.  I kick myself for not being on my game, but in reality, who would think to bring a passport to a music festival?!?!?  

On the morning of the festival, I went to go print the tickets, (I stupidly should have done it BEFORE I left Cairns, but that's hindsight for you), and saw in huge bold lettering: Overseas Drivers Licenses will NOT be accepted.  Only a valid passport can be used for verification of age.  My heart hit the floor when I saw this, as I had left my passport in Cairns because a flight from Cairns to Sydney does not require a passport, and I wasn't about to carry around my passport all willy nilly.  So alas, I did not attend the festival, and squandered away my ticket of amazingness for a measly amount. Worst.Ripoff.Ever.  

But such is life, and I had an amazing time regardless.  Just with less bass and more sleep.

Hoolllyyy COW, is it cold back home. Like really, really, really cold.  I've been keeping track of the weather back in Oregon and temps are down to 4-9 degrees F (-17/-13C), and the whole time I'm cooking in 88+, (30+ C) weather.  I'm beginning to think Oregon may become a second Antarctica by the time I return.

I'll just continue to sip my crisp cider in my nice tropical weather.

Bizarre.  

Have to say, I am missing the feeling of "cold" and the feeling of a snowy Christmas, with a blanket, (or 4), wrapped around me, and a hot chocolate, (potentially with rum), in my hands.  It's truly hard to get in the Christmas sprit, when there's palm trees, crocodiles, and kangaroos around you.

However, Cairns has given it, it's best shot.

I'm not quite sure how Christmas is going to feel this year, as it will be my first one away from home and without my family, but I'm looking forward to a drastically different Christmas environment then I'm used to.  I'll be spending Christmas with Aaron and his fam bam down on the Central Coast and will be experiencing the whole Christmas shibang with an Aussie twist.  Should be interesting.

When it comes to staying or leaving this beautiful place, I'm still very much so torn.  I have amazing opportunities if I stay and amazing opportunities if I return home, which some may say is a win-win situation, but at the moment just makes things incredibly difficult.  Regardless, I know that I am so fortunate to have been able to experience all that I have at this point, and all that I may be able to experience in the future.  With just two weeks of my internship left, I can confidently say that my time here has been an experience of a lifetime.

Australia is an amazing place.

Until next time friends and fam,
Nicole

Cheers!

So.Much.To.Discuss!

Holy cow, I have a ton to blog about today!  I have about 3 weeks worth of excitement, oodles of photos, and tons of updates on my life abroad.

First of all, it's flippin' hot here and I'm dying.  Actually, no.  I'm melting.

Cairns has begun to experience the buildup to the ever ominous wet season.  A period, (from what I've gathered from everyone's tellings), is a time of wet, hot, sticky, icky, grody living.  With a dash of sun every once in a while, and the potential hope of a flood that results in days off work, and kayaking down the street...hmmm...

With the recent 70+ humidity days, and 85-88 degree F weather, the zoo, (and existence) has practically been a sweat bath from start to finish.  I can assure you that I look GREAT every single day. Bleck. And yet, I still love it here!  When I'm not melting.

Momma white and brother recently left this past friday, and I truly miss them tons! :( It was a difficult goodbye that's for sure, but the time that I had here with them was AMAZING, and we were able to do so much!

(Mom even brought me a care package of all my favorite things!)

  

And Jason enjoyed his FIRST LEGAL BEER.

While the fam was here we went to the beach, Cape Tribulation, the Daintree Rainforest, a couple of local waterfalls, the tablelands, more beaches, the zoo, the Great Barrier Reef, and several other places! Annnddd we ate and drank. A lot.  I think I put on 5 lbs in a week alone.

Oh well.  I'll just sweat it all off here.  HA.

Anywho, I have many many many photos of the fun me and the fam bam had, and of the beautiful Cairns they were able to experience!

One of the first days that the fam was here, I took them to the zoo. YAY!  Have to say, my fellow coworkers provided mom and Ja, with the VIP tour, for sure!

Koala Family Photo!

Mom loooovveeedd the koalas.

 And the Kangaroos.

Jason loved his reptiles, and was able to see a large variety of the reptiles at the zoo.
He was pretty happy with the Reticulated Python.

And Iggy.  My handsome man.

Mom and Ja were even able to pole-feed a couple of the crocodiles

So cute!

And hold a couple of the baby alligators.

And, of course, I introduced them to Theo.

On another day, we went up to Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation, and the Daintree Rainforest.  Port Douglas has some gorgeous beaches, and after some fun in the sun, we drove an hour north and went on a crocodile cruise on the Daintree River.  The first time the fam has ever seen wild crocodiles.

The oceanside drive on the way up!

We're such a cute fam.

Port Douglas

Arrived at our crocodile excursion destination and this is what we see.
Uhm, ewww.

And we see these.

On the boat cruise!

Croc sighting! 2-3 year old Estuarine Crocodile.

Another day was spent enjoying the beach down at Etty Bay, which is about an hour south of Cairns. The road to Etty Bay is notorious for Cassowary sightings and we were fortunate enough to see some! My first wild Cassowary sighting as well!

Momma Cassowary...

...and chick!

Down at Etty Bay.  Beautiful waters.

Perhaps my most favorite of days with the family, was our day out at the Great Barrier Reef.  Words cannot describe how wonderful the reef is, and how happy I was to share it's beauty with the fam!

Love snorkeling!
Except when I misjudge how deep in the water I am, and I end up inhaling the ocean.
I'm the picture of grace and sophistication.

Terrible underwater camera does NOT show how pretty the reef is.

Preparing for my first dive with the brother and a fellow diver from Germany! 

Back to the surface and incredibly happy!

I truly have soooo many more photos of the adventures me and my family had while I was here, but if you keep up on facebook, then you've seen the majority.  As I said before, it was absolutely amazing having my mom and brother here, and I could not have wished for a better time with them.

In other news, the zoo has welcomed a new animal by the name of Sari.  Sari is a young Binturong who is easily one of the coolest looking mammals I've ever seen.  Although, I have not been able to feed/handle him myself, I have still been close enough to appreciate how awesome he is!

 

Sadly, I only have about a month left of my internship here at Cairns Tropical Zoo.  I will be spending the next couple of weeks in the Mammal Department and will then spend my remaining two weeks in Reptiles.  I truly cannot believe how quickly time has gone here and how close I am to finishing my internship!

Which brings me to my other news!

I am in serious consideration of staying here in Cairns for an additional year before returning home to the States.  I absolutely love it here and the people I've met, and am not sure if I'm ready to come back yet!  It's a big decision to make, and I'm nowhere near sure of what I'll do, but I have started looking into the process of applying for a 12 month Work and Holiday Visa.  I've been putting a lot of thought into taking an extra year to work and make some money to pay off loans, (and hopefully travel a bit more), before embarking on the path of veterinary medicine.  Applying for a work visa in Australia is an expensive and slightly scary process, but is so incredibly exciting as well!

It will, of course, be very hard to live so far away from family and close friends, but it may just create a reason for you all to come visit me! I can assure you that if I stay, anyone is absolutely welcome to visit :)

Besides that momentous decision making process, I am full of excitement for next week's Sydney and Stereosonic trip! I leave wednesday and will be experiencing the big city and all of it's wonderfulness! I will be gone for a full week and hope to do all of the touristy Sydney things, (i.e. the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, etc), in addition to Stereo and a variety of other things.

For those who don't know what Stereosonic is, it's a huge music festival that, (this year), lasts for two days.  Main headliners are: David Guetta, Skrillex, Alesso, Nero, Afrojack, Calvin Harris, Krewella, Zedd, Stafford Brothers, and many others.  Obviously, I'M SO EXCITED.

All in all, life is superb and great, and so full of opportunities for me and I truly couldn't be more grateful.  I'm not sure where these next few months will take me, but I do know that I couldn't be any happier with life at the moment.

Miss you all and until next time,
Cheers!