Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Easter Break- Australia Edition

My Easter break was 2 weeks long (well just 1 week off of uni, oops), filled with many adventures in 4 cities within Australia, followed by a trip to Thailand. Beginning with Australia, I met my sister, brother-in-law, and a couple of their friends in Brisbane. We spent 2 nights in an Airbnb in the midst of the city. We spent the first day relaxing and walking around by our Airbnb since my sister, brother-in-law, and their friends just arrived after over 20 hours of travel. The following day, we woke up early and visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary followed by touring the city in the afternoon. Before leaving on a later flight to Cairns, the third day we hit up some breweries and the Manly Farmers Market. Can you say... amazing food.



I was super excited to visit koala's because in New South Wales where I am currently living, it is illegal to hold a koala, whereas in Queensland it is legal. The one I held in the picture below was named Spoon, and as you can see he photographs well. SO CUTE. At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary we also were able to feed and pet kangaroos, and watch a few animals shows featuring different Australian animals. It was a very good time!
Koal-ity cuddles, get it? :)

































Our next destination was up North in Cairns. We stayed in the city at an Airbnb, and spent the 2 full days we had on different excursions. The first was to Green Island, which was so beautiful! We were able to just relax on the beach, and snorkel in the clear blue water. The following morning we had a snorkeling and dive excursion that went to two different locations within the Great Barrier Reef Conservation Reserve. The coral was all very beautiful, and we were lucky enough to see many fish, a sea turtle and a shark.
















Snorkel and Dive Excursion to the Great Barrier Reef Conservation Reserve



Newcastle pitstop. We stayed in Newcastle for a night before heading to Sydney. I brought everyone to one of my favorite beaches, Bar Beach, and then to the Bogey Hole sea bath right before it got dark. 


Our last stop was Sydney! We stayed for 4 nights, the first night was in the Park Hyatt Hotel courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law who had a free nights stay. It was a beautiful hotel right on the water, next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across from the Opera House. It was truly in the best location, complete with a pool and spa overlooking the city. We then spent the last 3 nights in an Airbnb across the water. 
Our days were spent exploring the city by visiting the Opera House, the Olympic Stadium, going shopping, and making a trip to Bondi Beach. The last day we celebrated my sisters birthday with more great food, some embarrassing restaurant singing, courtesy of me (you're welcome Rachel), and walked around the harbour.







Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Australian Reptile Park Trip

I'M BACKKKK. It has been forever since I have blogged. I've been incredibly busy with assessments for school and absent traveling, but now I will be staying put for the next few weeks to finish uni!

This blog covers my trip to the Australian Reptile Park. I went with a group of students through the International club, UNESN. It was my first time seeing and petting koalas and kangaroos up close, and I even got a selfie with one of the kangaroos...so it was a pretty great day. We were lucky enough to have our own tour guide, so we got to go into the koala cage and learned a lot of information about the animals in the park. As for the kangaroos, they were just roaming free, being cute in the middle of the park.
  





Baby roo poking its head out of the pouch


It turns out kangaroos are just like a really poorly behaved dog when
it comes to food. This one would not let Sam eat her apple, he wanted
to help out. I mean... look at that face.