I'm about to go to the train station in Sydney and take an overnight train to Adelaide. It'll be the first overnight train I've taken in a while and I really, really hope I have a seat to myself. Every day I spent in Canberra was fantastic (I have no words for how good the Eddie Vedder concert was)! Here are a couple pics:
I went to the National Gallery (wonderful) and the War Memorial (not so good - pretty depressing actually), the National Library and the Portrait Gallery, hiked Mt. Ainslie again with Aude, walked around the city for hours, had some pre-St. Patty's Day drinks with Aude and Cameron
and went to the Uni food co-op for an event called "Acoustic Soup" -- organic soup and bread for dinner and acoustic music by local musicians. It was so much fun! I didn't want to leave Canberra! I've had a good time in Sydney though, staying with my friend Chris who first hosted me back in December. We went out for a drink on St. Patty's Day but didn't get too crazy. I also got to spend a little time with my friend Roxy, and took a fun journey out to western Sydney (Granville) with Soo Se and Antonia to find the city's best baklava. We found it and it was amaaaazing.
We sat outside for about an hour and ate waaaay too much baklava ... and then bought more to take back with us. Last night I swam in Chris's pool and relaxed in the hot tub. So lovely. Today we've spent the whole morning watching sports because Chris has ESPN, which is quite rare in Australia - and super awesome. We watched Heat (boooo) vs. Hawks and now we're watching arm wrestling. :D I really do have to leave soon but I wanted to get on here and give you guys a quick update. I'll be on the train for 19 hours I think. When I get to Adelaide, I'm staying with one couchsurfer for the first two nights and another couchsurfer for the next three nights. They both seem nice, especially Frazer, my second host, who invited me to participate in the relaxation session he's hosting at his house on Tuesday evening, as well as going dumpster diving. Apparently he tries to live on $2 per day so that's how he gets some of his food. He also wants to take me dancing and to play ultimate frisbee. Yay! Should be an interesting week. I also want to do a fair bit of wine-tasting and visit a couple of the beaches there. I'm hoping the weather will be nice for me this week. After Adelaide I take a double overnight train (eek!) to Perth!! There I'll be staying with a couchsurfing host who loooves running stairs, which is perfect because I need to do some serious training for the AON climb which is in about 6 weeks. :) After five days in Perth, I'm taking the double overnight train back to Adelaide where I'll hopefully find some people who want to drive the Great Ocean Road (Australia's version of Highway 1) from Adelaide to Melbourne, where I'll finish out my trip with about a week in that gorgeous city. So that's my plan for the next couple weeks. I'll be sure to update you and let you know how it all goes. I hope everyone had a fun and festive St. Patty's Day and a beautiful week. Talk to you soon! :)
I went to the National Gallery (wonderful) and the War Memorial (not so good - pretty depressing actually), the National Library and the Portrait Gallery, hiked Mt. Ainslie again with Aude, walked around the city for hours, had some pre-St. Patty's Day drinks with Aude and Cameron
and went to the Uni food co-op for an event called "Acoustic Soup" -- organic soup and bread for dinner and acoustic music by local musicians. It was so much fun! I didn't want to leave Canberra! I've had a good time in Sydney though, staying with my friend Chris who first hosted me back in December. We went out for a drink on St. Patty's Day but didn't get too crazy. I also got to spend a little time with my friend Roxy, and took a fun journey out to western Sydney (Granville) with Soo Se and Antonia to find the city's best baklava. We found it and it was amaaaazing.
We sat outside for about an hour and ate waaaay too much baklava ... and then bought more to take back with us. Last night I swam in Chris's pool and relaxed in the hot tub. So lovely. Today we've spent the whole morning watching sports because Chris has ESPN, which is quite rare in Australia - and super awesome. We watched Heat (boooo) vs. Hawks and now we're watching arm wrestling. :D I really do have to leave soon but I wanted to get on here and give you guys a quick update. I'll be on the train for 19 hours I think. When I get to Adelaide, I'm staying with one couchsurfer for the first two nights and another couchsurfer for the next three nights. They both seem nice, especially Frazer, my second host, who invited me to participate in the relaxation session he's hosting at his house on Tuesday evening, as well as going dumpster diving. Apparently he tries to live on $2 per day so that's how he gets some of his food. He also wants to take me dancing and to play ultimate frisbee. Yay! Should be an interesting week. I also want to do a fair bit of wine-tasting and visit a couple of the beaches there. I'm hoping the weather will be nice for me this week. After Adelaide I take a double overnight train (eek!) to Perth!! There I'll be staying with a couchsurfing host who loooves running stairs, which is perfect because I need to do some serious training for the AON climb which is in about 6 weeks. :) After five days in Perth, I'm taking the double overnight train back to Adelaide where I'll hopefully find some people who want to drive the Great Ocean Road (Australia's version of Highway 1) from Adelaide to Melbourne, where I'll finish out my trip with about a week in that gorgeous city. So that's my plan for the next couple weeks. I'll be sure to update you and let you know how it all goes. I hope everyone had a fun and festive St. Patty's Day and a beautiful week. Talk to you soon! :)
Yeah Marie!! Thanks for making our Friday night better!!! So glad you had fun in Canberra!! The train will be relaxing, and then I'm sure you'll have fun in Adelaide!! Didn't we host someone from Adelaide? JonaTHON, I think!! Can't wait to hear about Perth. That's a pretty unknown place... So happy that you are getting there!!! Got a busy weekend here....work tomorrow, then dinner with friends, then church on Sunday, followed by dinner HERE with friends. We're resting up tonight!! Have fun....and we'll talk to you soon!!
ReplyDeleteLove you!! Mommy Sue
Acoustic Soup sounds great to me! Sign me up for that one, but I prefer to watch Curling over Arm Wrestling. I just love watching guys play with their rocks. But honestly...the most interesting activity you have planned is the "relaxation" evening. I can't wait to hear about that one...care to take pictures for us? ~ Aunty Connie
ReplyDeleteHey, Marie,
ReplyDeleteDumpster diving??....hmmn. I think your dad did that once in junior high school, but I'm not sure it was voluntary. Enjoy Perth, Australia's version of Los Angeles. Should be some fun travel across the continent. I love train travel, so once again, I am very jealous.
Love,
Uncle Ron
Yes, Dumpster Diving!! Marie won't even drink milk if it's CLOSE to the expiration date!!! Be careful Marie!! But have fun!!! I, too, am jealous of the train travel!! Marie says that pictures will be coming....soon....
ReplyDelete~Mommy Sue
Marie P! Great skyping with you last night. I hope you were able to get some sleep on the train. FYI, the Lakers got it together and beat the Wolves. Highlight, and perhaps a defining moment for the rest of the year: after Michael Beasley spent the better part of the game trash talking Lamar, Ron-Ron (who got T'd up for jawing back) and Barnes, Beasley went up for a lay up and Bynum forearm-checked him and knocked him flat on his back. Beasley had to leave the game hurt. Bynum got a flagrant 2 and was ejected. But the entire Laker team was all smiles. The Big guy defended his peeps and sent the league a message. Go Lakers!!!!!!!!!! Love you sweetheart. Have fun with hippy dude, but don't eat trash or bugs if you can avoid it. Daddy
ReplyDeleteAwwww, I can't wait for you to come home and I don't even live in CA, ha ha ha. But I am so glad that you are still having a great time:) Can't wait to see the pics! ttyl ~Sara Coley Leff (LOL)
ReplyDelete