Last week in Australia

Baywatch.. or something.

I now have one week left in Australia. That’s right – ONE WEEK. What is this madness? I have had a brilliant time the past fortnight since being back from Sydney, and so here’s what I’ve been up to!

I’ve done a few swim tours, including a surprise one on my last official day volunteering at the DDC. It was the best swim tour I’ve been on, too! I swam alongside a male dolphin for about ten minutes straight – he was swimming synchronised with me, turning when I turned etc – it’s such an amazing experience swimming underwater with a dolphin that close. I also had a swim where I was surrounded by four adult dolphins which was cool too!

Selina & Me

The other awesome thing that happened – you remember I said goodbye to Selina, who was heading up North? Well, last week I was at the DDC, and I felt two hands on my shoulders. YES it was Selina back! I jumped on her and we had the most enormously squeezy hug – the other people there looked incredibly confused. She was back in Bunbury for a few more days, and so that was a brilliant surprise!

Feeding kangeroos

Selina, Christine, and I visited Big Swamp Wildlife Park, where you could feed and cuddle kangeroos and birds. The kangeroos are the most adorable things, and the birds land in your hair and try to eat everything.

Barrage of birds

The three of us also went on a little road trip with Ferne and Matthias to the Black Diamond Lakes. Spent the afternoon swimming and jumping off logs, then headed back to Christine’s house for tea, cards, and didgeridoo playing (Selina’s determination is admirable).

Skill, hey?

On Selina’s last night (her real last night, this time!) we had a bbq on Koombana beach – I introduced everyone to bbq’d bananas with chocolate in the middle, which was much loved!

Black Diamond Lakes

I spent Tuesday in Busselton with Mandy visiting the underwater observatory and eating far too much food. Yesterday I went to Kaitlin’s eighteenth birthday party where I painted a ceramic penguin, and had my last Macca’s (sob). Went on another swim tour today, and then swimming at Back Beach with Dylan – waves were pretty darn crazy! Tomorrow I’m going to Gnomesville with Ferne and the family, and I’m going kayaking with her sometime before I leave!

Guess who's in that Louie the Dolphin costume... yes, that's me.

It’s a strange feeling, leaving Australia and everything here behind. The May family have become my second family, and not seeing them every day will be so weird. The friends I’ve made here are from all over the world, so I suppose at least I have a good excuse to travel! I’m excited about everything that lies ahead of me. Seeing Joe, my family, and friends again, and then backpacking around Europe (official start date 19^th May!). And then, after a summer of bbq’s and nights out, road trips and ice cream, camping and beaches (albeit slightly colder than those here!), I’ll be going off to University! So although one adventure is nearly over – debatable if it can ever be ‘over’, I’ve made friends for life here – there are many more adventures just waiting to begin.

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, SYDNEY!

Opera House & Harbour Bridge

Home in three weeks now! Crazy eh?

Christine (France), Selina (Germany), me (UK). We like to joke about what people back in 1914 would have thought of this friendship...

I said goodbye to Selina the sea cucumber just before I went to Sydney, which was sad! She plans on heading home to Berlin a little earlier than planned so she’s there when me and Joe pass through on our interrail trip in June though, so it won’t be long until I see her! We spent our last day together taking a TON of photos on the beach with Christine, and then went to the cinema to see The Host. She was worried she might not be able to follow all the English, but I only had to explain a couple of things – ‘interrogate’ and ‘pity’ are two words she didn’t know.

I went on a road trip the day before flying – we drove for over six hours to the outback which was crazy – seeing these ‘towns’ in the middle of nowhere with just two houses and a church. Saw a road train, and stopped off at a salt lake, which is essentially just thick white salt where all the water has evaporated in the heat and lack of rain. They’re pretty beautiful.

Walking across a salt lake

My flight out to Sydney was delayed, and my one back was too – I’m thinking there’s something with me and flights! In the airport I left my travel folder in a shop, containing tickets, hostel info, and passport. I went back and thankfully it was still there! Going to excuse myself as it was 11pm, but I’m sure mum is regretting letting me come out here alone! (haven’t told her I did that yet, so sorry mum! Haha)

Sunset on the Opera House

I stayed in a hostel for the first three nights, and then went to stay with Eliza, my penpal (I talked about this in an earlier post, so read back!) The hostel was in Kings Cross, which is summed up in the guidebooks as being “only a ten-minute walk from the city, with its own train station and is always lively. In recent years, it has shakedn the worst of its renowned red-light and drug-abuse sleaze and is once again popular with backpackers.” It wasn’t that bad!

Me with Harbour Bridge

I headed straight out to the harbour to see the bridge and the Opera House. Seeing that sight with your own eyes is just… captivating. I spent so long just taking it in. I visited Customs House, which had a scale model of Sydney underneath a glass floor that you could walk across, the State Library, which was a really old-school kind of library, Hyde Park Convict Barracks Museum, which was a really old building with a fascinating history, and St Mary’s Cathedral. I also went around the NSW Parliament building by accident! I was looking for a post office and was told the nearest one was inside there, so I went through the security and posted my letters, and was then asked if I fancied seeing the upper house chamber! Of course I did! The security there was much less strict than in the UK – I was just left alone in the chamber to do what I wanted. I saw fireworks over the harbour, as well as my first koala in the entrance to a Wildlife Park! I walked across Harbour Bridge and then got a ferry back across the harbour. I went shopping in Darling Harbour (woops – going to struggle so much getting everything back home), and made new friends in the hostel. Eliza and I got on well, and her family are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. I spent Friday night at Hillsong Sydney’s youth group (about 500 youth!) where Eliza is a youth leader, and then the whole of Sunday at Hillsong Church. It was pretty awesome being at the ‘original’ Hillsong!

Blue Mountains

I spent a day exploring the Blue Mountains. This is such a beautiful area, where I saw waterfalls, the Three Sisters, and climbed up the Giant’s Staircase (over 900 steps!)

A full day hiking through the Blue Mountains

On my last day I’d wanted to go to Bondi Beach, but Sydney’s unpredictable weather decided to pour with rain, so instead I just stayed in the city. I actually spent the morning drinking coffee with Hugo and his girlfriend Honor – mine and Hugo’s families were really close when we were younger and then he moved away. We haven’t actually seen each other in about 5 years, but were in Sydney at the same time, so hey, why not? It was great catching up, if a little surreal!

When saying goodbye to Eliza’s family, her mum gave me some necklaces from the Philippines (where she’s from) so that I “remember them when I wear them”. Like I said, they’re the sweetest family. I had about an hours sleep, and then got up to leave the house at 3am! Sitting in a station in Sydney for an hour at 4 in the morning was an interesting experience…

Half Way!

So now I’m back in Bunbury! I got home to a letter from Joe (finally! :P), a postcard from Emma in Switzerland, a card from Harry in Rwanda (which he’d posted three months ago – the African postal system is unique…), a bracelet and card from Joe’s family, and an Easter parcel from mum. Unfortunately the parcel was full of chocolate, which had all melted. An hour in the freezer and it’s (nearly) as good as new though!

Easter parcel chocolate carnage