Category Archives: Australia

Morisset Park Day Trip

The perfect place to go if you’re looking to see kangaroos is Morisset Park! Officially, the park was built next to a psychiatric ward so that the kangaroos could help the patients, but now, it’s more of a place where you can go to see kangaroos in the ‘wild’! A Morisset Park Day trip is the perfect way to see kangaroos while you’re in Sydney and you don’t have too far to go.

The kangaroos at Morisset Park are used to having their picture taken
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Manly: My Favorite Beach in Sydney

After living in Australia for almost 2 years, guess which beach is my favorite? If you would have guessed Bondi…you’re wrong! Manly Beach is my absolute favorite beach in Sydney (and actually, Manly is just my favorite place as well)! Not that I need to prove it, but here’s why; Manly has all of the things that make a beach great: stunning water, coves, wormholes, art, nature, incredible views, walking treks…Oh, the things that Manly offers. Let’s get started!

Manly Beach view from the Wormhole
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Day Trip to Kiama and Bombo

Living in Sydney is such a great experience. I love being able to get in and out of the city and northern beaches easily. Even more so, I love being able to explore other parts of New South Wales with ease. A day trip to Kiama and Bombo is the perfect getaway that isn’t too far to travel round trip  from Sydney. It’s easy to get to Kiama from Central station, you only have to take one train! I decided to head to the farthest destination first, then hit Bombo on the way back home since it’s just a stop before Kiama.

Kiama

Kiama is a small town known to home one of the largest blowholes in the world with sprays up to 82 feet in the air! When visiting the blowhole it’s best at high tide, so be sure to lookup the times before you plan your trip around it. I visited a few hours before high tide so I could explore the area. There are plenty of sites to view around the headland, so you’ll have things to do while you wait. Continue reading Day Trip to Kiama and Bombo

Blue Mountains Day Trip

There are so many things to do in Sydney. If you’re only here for a week, exploring the city and surrounding beaches is a good idea. For those lucky others that have more than a week in this beautiful city, I suggest going on day trips from Sydney to see more of Australia. One day trip I highly recommend is a trip to the Blue Mountains. I went to the Blue Mountains on a day tour and had an excellent experience.

Trip Up to the Blue Mountains

The tour left early in the morning, around 7:00, to give us the entire day in the mountains. During the trip up, our guide told us the history of the Blue Mountains as well as where the name originated. The Blue Mountains are known as ‘blue’ because they give off blue haze due to the oil from the Eucalyptus trees in the area. When the sun hit the oil, it gives off a blue color.

Blue Mountains

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Palm Beach Day Trip

A path leading down to  Palm Beach

Sydney is full of beautiful beaches and coves to explore, but every now and then it’s nice to get out of the city and find something new. One Sunday I had the urge to get out of Sydney, so I planned to go to Morisset Park after church. I was excited about my plans for the day, but as I left the church someone in the congregation asked me about my plans for the day. I told her I was going to Morisset Park. She told me that going alone there wasn’t a good idea and suggested that if I wanted to go on a day trip I should go to Palm Beach.

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Vivid Sydney 2017

Vivid Sydney Festival 2017

Jellyfish light art display on the sails of the Opera House

There were a lot of things I was excited to see in Australia when I was planning my move and Vivid Sydney was at the top of my list! I had high expectations for Vivid Sydney 2017 and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed, Vivid Sydney was amazing! Sydney has so many places to go to enjoy the light displays, so I loved that I could stroll through the streets and see artwork. There were so many little displays and interactive ones as well. I didn’t get to see everything, but next year I know to plan more time for the festival. Here are a few of my favorite Vivid Sydney 2017 displays. Enjoy!

Taronga Zoo

Anteater display at the Lights for the Wild

Seeing the Vivid display at Taronga Zoo is an absolute must! I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fit this experience into my schedule, but thankfully I didn’t put it off until next year. The Vivid Light show at Taronga zoo is the Lights for the Wild walk and it was my favorite Vivid display. The displays were so ornate and fun, I loved them all!

Taronga Zoo Entrance Light Display

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My First Week in Sydney

I have been in the Land Down Under for two weeks now and I absolutely love it! In fact, I’ve loved it so much that I’m a week late on my blog post for my first week in Sydney! So here it is, better late than never.

The Plane Ride

My first sunrise in Australia!

My total flight time from Birmingham to Sydney was 24 hours. I had three different connections, but overall the flight wasn’t too bad! My longest leg (from LAX to Sydney) was supposed to be almost 15 hours, but we ended up landing an hour early! Thankfully, I didn’t feel too bad getting off the plane since I slept in intervals of about 30 minutes (totaling to 3 or 4 hours) and I even got my row to myself (yay, yay!). Continue reading My First Week in Sydney

A Change in Direction

“And suddenly you know: it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” – Meister Eckhart

Today I did something that I’ve been waiting a long time to do: I turned in my two weeks notice to my office job. I’m making a huge change in direction. I am leaving a career so I can live a life of travel and I am starting off with one year in Australia on a working holiday visa! I am both proud and slightly nervous of my decision. On the one hand, I am about to start living the life I’ve been dreaming about and on the other, I just said goodbye to a stable income. I know I won’t steady my nerves until I find a job, but I also believe that I can do this, I know I can!

I have been preparing for this lifestyle change for around a year now. I’ve been paying off credit cards, saving up money, and researching like crazy! I have sold and donated almost all of my belongings (and I will be covering how I did this in another post, so stay tuned!). And even though I’ve known I was going to do this for almost a year, I’m still anxious! I have had plenty of time to prepare, but are you ever prepared for a huge lifestyle change?

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