Sunday Surfing and the Glebe Street Festival

Quiet early morning beach

There are moments in our lives that make us stop for a second. Stop to appreciate our existence. Stop to take a look around at our surroundings. Stop our minds from wondering amlisly into distracting thoughts, future planning, or worries that aren't worth the time. I am extremely grateful for who I am and where I am at the moment, but travelling has not yet pushed me into living in the present moment. I'm always thinking and planning the next thing in the future, and often fail to treat everyday as a new adventure that deserves to be explored to the fullest.
I was out the door by 6:15am this morning, hopped on my bike and headed off down the quiet streets with the gloomy clouds overhead. My surf lesson started at 7am and the forecast was for rain, not the bright burning sun that I've been getting accustomed to here is Sydney. With wetsuits zipped up and surfboards in hand, our group meandered across the sand to the south end of Maroubra beach. It was drizzling slightly, but the air temperature was still warm. As we were catching the rip out past the breaking waves the sky opened up and the rain started pouring down, bouncing peacefully off the dark blue waters. Once out deep enough, I sat on my board and stopped. I was living out today's adventure, living in the moment, taking in the tranquility of being in Sydney, Australia, on a surfboard, at 7 in the morning, in the pouring rain. A moment that I don't think I will forget...
Oh and by the way, the surfing lesson went great! We were practising catching unbroken waves out in the deeper waters amongst the other surfers. I managed to catch a few and had one really good ride into the beach. Today definitely build up my confidence a bit and made me less nervous and scared to paddle out to the bigger waves. Can't wait to get out there again soon!
Here's a few pictures of Maroubra beach after the rain had stopped, but the clouds still gloomed.

North end of Maroubra

Interesting art on the beach...

At the North end, looking out to the south end

The surf shack :)

After my surf lesson I still had the entire day to fill up. I decided to bike over and check out the Glebe Street Festival. There were over 250 stalls, from food, jewelry, artwork, clothing.... I think it went for almost 1 km down the blocked off street. I enjoyed many free samples and watched some amazing young dancers perform.

Enormous cooking pan!

After the market I went to one of my favorite spots, mcivers baths down near coogee beach. Layed in the sun, read by book, took a dip in the ocean pool.
Day well spent I'd say!
Bye for now :).

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Sydney, Australia Favourite Places

Time sure goes by quickly! I've been living in Sydney and working as an au pair for a little over a month now. I much prefer exploring one area in depth and getting more of a local vibe. I haven't wondered back to the city centre yet, as I'm perfectly happy with life on the beaches soaking up the sun. I recently starting surfing, but I think I'm going to do a whole post dedicated to that, so I will leave that topic for now. What I did want to write about was a few of my favorite spots I've found in Sydney thus far.

Centennial Park
Fantastic park for running and cycling. Unfortunaltely I've buggered up my foot somehow, so I'm off running for a bit which is a bummer. I was really enjoying my runs around the 4km park amongst the many avid fitness walkers, runners, and cyclists. It's amazing how this big park is cornered by busy city streets yet feels so calming once inside. It's only about 2km away from where I'm living too, so only a jump and a skip away from where the hectic busy streets stop and the trees and ponds begin.

Mcivers Baths

I am so happy I checked this place out because it has become my #1 swimming and tanning spot to go. It's a women's only area with lots of room to lay on the rocks looking out at the beautiful ocean waves crashing around you. It also has a small ocean pool that I've been doing little swims in when it's not too busy. Best of all I just wear swim bottoms and go topless which is so freeing and refreshing, while also giving me a nice even tan:)! Entry fee is 20 cents because it hasn't changed since the baths first opened.

All in all I've been really enjoying having a permanent home in Sydney for a couple months.

Will be doing a post about my surfing adventures next and my favorite beach to catch some waves.

Bye for now :)

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Last Day in the busy city centre.

It feels like the end of my trip for some reason... Not sure why, as this is only the beginning! Tomorrow evening I will be starting work as an au pair for 5 months.

I ended up spending the majority of my last day in the city centre trying to hunt down an acoustic guitar to purchase. Sadly, I came out unsuccessful. I will continue my search online for second hand guitars and hopefully come across a perfect fit soon.

I found some new shops wounding around today as well. This one looked rather fancy and reminded me of the block Arcade back in Melbourne. This one wasn't filled with as many intriguing shops compared to the famous block Arcade though.

Many floors!

Since it was Sunday and also a long weekend here, many musicians lined Pitt street singing their tunes. My favourite of the day were again a folk type duo called Winterbourne. I do believe they said they were from Perth, but don't hold me to that! I did feel a bit bad for them though. They looked like they were roasting in the afternoon sun. Temperatures were up around 30 degrees today. Not that nice when you're in busy city streets. Would have much rather been down on the beaches today I think. Anyways, luckily for the viewing audience we were all under a nice patch of cool shade.

After walking around in the heat all afternoon, I had the hankering for something sweet and cold. Off to yogurtland I went. My only complaint was the fast melting rate, other than that it hit the spot!

Bye for now.

 

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Darling Harbour and Hyde Park

Back in the beautiful Sydney, NSW. I decided to stay in the YHA central location so I could explore the inner city a bit more. I must admit, I was a little sad not going back to the hostel near bondi beach because I think I'm more of a beach bum then city chic. Oh well, I'll have 5 more months of living a at the beach I guess!

After an awful sleepless overnight train trip from Melbourne, I wasn't feeling extremely energetic or in a good mood for that matter. So I decided to do what I seem to like best, wonder aimlessly down streets to see new sights. My first stop was Market City. A HUGE shop for everything from fresh produce to clothing to little nic nacks and souvenirs. I didn't feel like squeezing and pushing my way through the crowds of people buzzing all about so I continued my journey to Darling Harbour.

Darling Harbous was a nice little area. Very relaxing with all its gardens and water works. Unfortunately the cloudy weather followed me from Melbourne!

After going to bed around 6pm and sleeping until 7am I was in much better spirits. Started my Saturday morning off with a lovely run through Hyde Park to Circular Quay and back. Hyde park was such a nice green space in the centre of the city. Art and About is happening all around Sydney, so I believe those black tents that played music and lit up were part of that. If not, then I have no idea what they were! Lots of photographs sent in from kids under the age of 11. They were very cute as all the pictures included a description written by the child.

Anzac Memorial and Pool of Reflection

Colourful music playing tents

Kids pictures

Archibald Fountain

Late in the afternoon I went to the Circular Quay to check out the Chocolate Festival. Sounded very promising and tasty, but was slightly dissapointed in the few tents set up and lines that stretched quite far. Needless to say I didn't purchase any tasty treats... I also debated all day long about the very expensive purchase of a new guitar. I really want to buy a guitar, but failed to realize that yes they are pretty pricy... I've decided to sleep on it and head back in the morning if it's something that I really really really want!

Street performers at Circular Quay

 

Bye for now.

Maybe you'll see a picture of a new guitar soon :).

 

 

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Last day in Melbourne...

Packed up from yet another hostel this morning. I'm glad I don't have a lot to unpack or pack back up! I left my hostel around 9am, so I was a little unsure of how I would occupy my time until 7pm, when I would board my train back to the beautiful beaches of Sydney.

After hearing some good reviews from others, I decided to fork up the money and pay for a visit to the Dreamworks Animation Exhibition playing at ACMI right at federation square. Megumi, my new friend travelling from Japan, came along as well. Although the exhibit only took around an hour to go through it was very interesting! I loved seeing all the sketches and the production behind all the animation films over the years. It definitely puts into perspective all the time and energy it takes well before anyone is witness to the final product on the big screen. They had numerous walls covered in original drawings, paintings, and even sculptures of some characters. All the main characters of Madagascar were made into sculptures so that the animation team could produce the best corners and shapes of the animals. They also had a few projector screens that showed the development of the characters, starting with outlines and progressively added in facial expressions and colours.

Had a visit with Megumi over a latte and cappuccino at Hairy Little Sista's Cafe. A rather odd name, but they did make a good latte! After the caffeine buzz, we walked back to federation square where there were some street performers out and about doing there thing. A hard way to make a living, trying to make people laugh, but I guess they must enjoy it.

After I said my goodbyes to Megumi, I walked around the city streets one more time. To my pleasant surprise, walking down Burke street, I got to listen to my favourite type of street performers, musicians! One group in particular, Amistat, was an amazing folk duo. I would have bought there CD had I been travelling with something more than my iPad, but yay for iTunes as I got to download it online. A very nice way to finish off my last few hours here in Melbourne.

 

Talk to you again when I'm back in Sydney.

bye for now.

 

 

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