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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