Hi all
How ya goin'? ...as they say here all the time. My roomie once replied "...well... by bus..." but this actually means "how's in going?" in Canadian.
Two weekends ago, Catherine came to Melbourne for the weekend. I already put some photos up on my photoalbum website (http://karensb.myphotoalbum.com) for you to check out. It was a really fun time. A main activity on the weekend was the Mardi Gras parade on March 3rd. It's supposedly the biggest Gay Pride parade in the world and someone told me it's the second most anticipated parade after the one in Rio. It was indeed spectacular and really entertaining, but I wouldnt see it twice. Rio does seem like the kind of parade you'd see again. My friend Joelle and a couple of her friends were actually in the parade (for the Green party - elections are comming up in a week or two). There were choreographed dancing and songs and mini shows. There were also fireworks during 2 intervals. We got a lot of free things, well mostly candy actually.
The parade happened on Oxford street. This street is really long and has a lot of restaurants, clubs, bars, shops, specialty stores. A lot of shops and things on that street give off a gay pride feel every day. The busses that take us to "the City" ( you can't say "downtown" without getting a funny look) go along Oxford street so we get to see a lot of the crazy named stores in that area.
The next day, there was a lot of indecision going on about what we should do, but eventually, we just decided to go to Bondi beach. It's a really crowded beach and I think one of the landmarks in Sydney that tourists just have to go see. A lot of locals don't really like going to Bondi because of its tourist-filled atmosphere, but really, it's exciting to see how many different cultures all come together in one area. As you sit on the beach, you hear several different languages around you, or at least different accents. It's a really nice spot. It started to drizzle a little bit around sunset, and a lot of people left the beach. Bondi, as you can see on postcards or from the two times I've been there, is always crowded. At this time, still some people remained on the beach, but it seemed very deserted. A rare event!
On the friday before, we went on a little bar tour of the area called The Rocks. Well, sure it was a tour to experience the different bars to drink or party at but it was a fun way to discover the area. Oh there was this place that offered a sort of beer, called Beez Weez or something very similar. It tasted really like honey. Yummy actually. So yes, the Rocks. It's the first area of Sydney, I think, so most of the buildings in that area date back to the 1800s. It's a really nice area, when you think about architecture and streets. Actually Catherine and I spent our day around there for Australia Day (January 26th). It's the area where the Harbour Bridge (called the "coathanger" for locals) begins. I have yet to go walk across the bridge.
I have a long list of things I want to do in Sydney. I have the guidebook for Sydney that Catherine bought me for Xmas, which is really good, and one that I picked up for free at the airport, and they both name so many places, it's really hard to find time to go to all of them. I've already gone to a couple of the places so far, so that's good. Well, Cath and I did a lot of tourist trap visiting during our week here in January (Opera House, Aquarium, Wildlife World (this is like the Montreal Biodome), The Rocks, a harbour cruise during Australia Day, Circular Quay, Kings Cross neighborhood - although dodgy at night, etc). But suprisingly enough, I've been to more than double that amount of places but I still feel like I've barely visited anything.
I've been doing a lot of fun things lately So I've been keeping busy. I've been going to parties and meeting new people and going new places. I went to Manly beach last saturday. It's in the North shore of Sydney, and really beautiful. My friend and I got there around 4 pm so we were there quite late, and the ferry ride (20 minutes) was nice. We walked up and down the beach, with a secondary purpose of findinf our friends. That night, we ended up having a barbie (BBQ) at a little beach beside Manly beach called Shelley beach. It was very nice there. We had good food and had lots of fun. Most people there were swedish (I'd say 12 out of 18) so hard to understand sometimes (I'm actually learning some - I can count to ten and say some basic words, but with an incorrect accent). After, a guy who is in one of my classes was having a house party at his place in Manly. We went there for a bit. It was super roomy and had an amazing view of Manly beach. However, travelling to uni (that's what they say when talking about university) takes 1h30. I had to leave to catch the last ferry home. Almost missed it but no, I caught it on time!
On Sunday, the International Student Services (ISS for short) organized a picnic at Centennial Park. That was a lot of fun. I made my yummy taco salad (big hit) and we played games like passing around an American Football (because Aussie footy is completely different), touch footy (which is actually touch rugby i think), lots of frisbee (i love frisbee), and then some board games (there's this one called Taboo where you're supposed to make the your team guess a word without saying some words listed that you'd think of instantly. For example the word is "birthday" but you're not allowed to say words like "born, cake, balloons, candles". It's a really fun game. Anyways I love board games). So I left around 4h30 and I was supposed to start studying for a quiz I had today, but I kind of wasted my time doing anything but studying, because it's a weird thought to have to study in Australia, but I eventually got around to it. The quiz went alright.
Now this weekend, I'm going to Melbourne!!!!!!! I've heard so many good things about Melbourne so I'm really excited! I know that Catherine loves it and I'm sure I will too! It's smaller than Sydney and supposedly the same size as Montreal and almost the same. Melbourne has trams (I was so excited when I saw a tram in Sydney, that runs along Hay street in Chinatown). I booked the trip with a company called www.colourfultrips.com that a couple of my friends are going on. However, they told me that the trip was booked. In fact, it's the accomodation that was full, but not the bus. So since I have a place to stay in Melbourne, that is, at Cath's place, I can stay there instead. So the trip costs 300 instead of 380 because I arranged my own accommodation! I leave on thursday night and arrive on Friday morning. Friday will be a penguin day trip to phillip Island (a must-see), but this is extra expenses. Then on Saturday is the Great Ocean Road, including the 12 apostles (actually there are only 9 left standing, 3 died). I'm really excited for that; it's included in the cost. Then on sunday is a free day, where actually there is the Formula One going on. So that means the city will be buzzing just as Montreal does when it's the Grand Prix. I won't go to the show, but I'm sure I'll hear it, just like we do back home in Nuns Island. I hope this it is okay for me to go, I charged it on the credit card. I'm very, very excited!!
So that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed my long email.
Cheers! (another Aussie common saying)
Karen
PS I'm also considering the purchase of a new camera complete with flash...
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