Queenstown!

Originally I booked this trip so I could apply for a holiday working visa because you have to be out of the country.  But after I decided that I was moving back to America, I decided that this trip would just be a fun, adventurous and memorable vacation before heading back home. So the Sunday after I finished work, I set off for my Kiwi Adventure.

I landed and grabbed a bus to the hostel. It was a really nice place and the owner was super friendly and helpful.  I basically booked my week - Monday would be Jet Boating, Tuesday was canyoning and then the big bungy jump on Wednesday!

The first night was a roast dinner where I got meet and hang out with some of the patrons of the hostel. There were people from Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Canada and a few fellow yankees. After dinner we went for a walk and explored a bit of Queenstown.

Monday was the Skippers Canyon Jet Boat.  A friend said it was a must do in Queenstown so I was excited! We took an hour bus ride to Skippers Canyon, which was gorgeous!

The jet boating was awesome! The guide zipped us through the canyon, doing spins and going pretty fast.  It was raining but it was still an awesome ride!

The next day, my friend and I went hiking up the Queensland Trail.  Luckily it wasn't raining and was nice and cool, enabling us to have a pretty picturesque walk.

Then it was Canyoning which included dressing up in a full wet suit, helmet and harness and going through a canyon. There were zip lining (so much fun), abseiling which was basically propelling down a mountain/rock using a rope. I had never done it before so it was a bit tough!  Then we went in the water - swam and did some slides and jumps. There was a big jump fairly high up into the water. Only a few of the guys in our group were going to do it.  I figured if I couldn't do that jump I'd have some issues bungee jumping the next day. One of the girls that went up before me freaked out and had to come back down.  That didn't help...but I climbed up and just jumped when our guide counted to 3! It was awesome! No pics cause we couldn't really take any and the ones that were taken weren't great and would have had to buy them!

So the next day was the Nevis Bungy Jump.  It wasn't scheduled until 2:40PM so I had a whole half day to freak out.  In the morning I went for a run to calm my nerves and then spoke with one of the hostel employees who had done every single jump and she said it was awesome. Got some good advice - don't look down and just jump when the guy counts to 3, no hesitation! So that's what I did!

Went to the meeting place and checked in. Waited another 30 minutes for the bus to depart.  Drove another 30 minutes to the place.  We then weighed in and got our harnesses strapped on. The suspense was killing me and I really just wanted to get it over with.  The first group got sent over, more waiting....  Finally the girl called our group and we took a little contraption over to the jump.  This girl in front of me looked a bit nervous so we started chatting. Her name was Sophie and she was from the UK. Found out that we both had done sky diving but were both more freaked out about this.  So we reassured each other and she gave me a hug before she went.  She had no fear and jumped straight away.  As I got my foot gear strapped on, the guy made me feel better.

As I was about to go, they were pulling Sophie back up and she told me how awesome it was and how her feet just magically did it! So I felt a lot better.  The guy brought me out to the front and I was freaking out!  He had me smile to the camera and said 1, 2, 3, go!

I totally didn't hear him and was like sorry, so he counted again and then I jumped!!! It was an amazing feeling! I can't even tell you how exhilarating it was. The fall was nothing like the free fall part of sky diving.  Both felt great but this was quite different. The rush was way better and it wasn't like freezing cold.

After the jump, I was on a high! I chatted a bit with Sophie and told her and her friend that there was a pub crawl on tonight and we should totally go and celebrate our jumps!

I had yet to experience the NZ nightlife so a pub crawl was the perfect reason to. It was $35 and gave us access to 5 pubs, which included the Ice Bar and a shot at every pub.  Since entry to the Ice Bar was normally $30 it was an awesome deal.  Sophie and a few of the other bungee jumpers came out.  A few people from my hostel also came and met some random Aussie athletes that enjoyed taking their shirts off!  

Overall it was a super fun night with dancing and drinking. Unfortunately I had to wake up at ass o clock the next day to go to Milford Sound. So I left at about 1am and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up at 6am and felt like crap.  We got on the bus at about 6:45 and it was a bumpy ride, which didn't help my motion sickness. Couple that with a slight hangover, I was not a happy camper.  I finally had to ask the bus driver to stop as I felt sick. He apologized and said they were on a tight schedule and gave me a plastic bag, which I proceeded to throw up in. Luckily we were stopping in the next 20 minutes and I was feeling so much better.  We stopped for a bathroom break and I was to the chemist to get some sea sick pills. The rest of the ride I was basically half asleep - drowsiness from the pills.  We finally go to Milford and hopped on a boat. It was beautiful!!!  New Zealand is really gorgeous and picturesque.

After we got back to the hostel, me and two other Canadian girls that I met decided to go to FergBerger, another Queenstown "must."  It's famous for its burgers and they were known to be huge.  I ordered the regular ferg, without too many other extra toppings because I knew it would be too much. It was actually pretty perfect and I was able to finish it!

After dinner, all the folks went out to the pubs for another fun night of dancing and drinking.

The next morning I had to check out but my flight wasn't until 4, so I decided to do the hike up to the Gondala and take the ride down.  View was amazing and the ride was very cool!

It was such an awesome trip, I can't even tell ya.  Queenstown is SOO MUCH fun and is freakin BEAUTIFUL!  Met some really cool people and had the time of my life!!

Bris-Vegas!

My friend Maggie, who went to Pepperdine and who I met on our one week Czech Republic/Budapest study abroad trip, has been living in Brisbane for over two years now.  We chatted on Facebook and had planned to visit each other and after I decided to leave my job, I gave her a call to see if she'd be up for a visitor.  She was happy to have me visit so I booked a flight and we made plans!

I landed on Friday night and we went for a nice Ethiopian dinner.  The next morning, we got up early and drove down to the Sunshine Coast and sat out by the beach. The weather was super hot and nice! We could only really stay out for about an hour and a half.

After we drove back to Brisbane and met some of Maggie and Morgan's friends at a pub. The next day we just hung out in Brisbane, took a ferry and walked around the city.

Overall it was a great and relaxing trip! Brisbane is a charming little city and I'm glad I got to visit! Thanks Maggie!!

Thanksgiving in Sydney

So I've been abroad three times during Thanksgiving, the first time was in Dublin where I hosted two dinners,  and the last two years here in Sydney.  Hosted dinner last year so I just had to do it again. I worked from home that day so I could start cooking. Reserved a Turkey from the Butcher, which is what I learned I had to do last year.  The normal stores will look at you funny when asking for a Turkey before Xmas.

Here's my 5KG (11 lbs) Turkey that I got for the bargain price of $50! Haha only in Sydney.  Spent all day cooking my bird, my famous pumpkin mac and cheese, some stuffing and made pumpkin pie for the first time.

The bird turned out pretty good - basted it in Strongbow Cider and it was nice and juicy!

It was a small but nice group for Thanksgiving.  

The "Americans"

Everyone brought a yummy side - potatoes - sweet, baked, mashed, veggies, and a ton of alcohol.  We all went around and said what we were thankful for. I was really grateful to have made such great friends who I can share this special day with and not feel as homesick.

Here's a picture of the aftermath. Overall a great Thanksgiving!

My Dirty 30!

Can't say I feel that much different having turned 30.

I decided that my 30th was a great excuse to go back to LA! But before I did, I had a early celebration with my awesome friends in Sydney. We had pre drinks at Ryan's bar - for those who get off work early.

Then after attempting to get into Jamie Oliver's restaurant, we went to our backup Italian Restaurant at La Rosa Cafe. The food was delicious and my friend Orla, who is a fabulous cake decorator made me a beautiful and delicious cake!

We attempted to go to Shady Pines but the lines were too long, so we went for a drink at the Commons.

Overall a great night out with great friends, great food and drinks!

The next day I wasn't too hungover on my flight back to LA.  My friends back home planned an AWESOME birthday celebration for me.

We started at dinner at Bottlerock and had our own little section and the girls printed out a wine list and had all these pretty pink decorations.

After dinner we headed off to Elevate where a few other friends joined us for some drinks and dancing. Overall an awesome night!

Overall a fabulous 30th birthday celebrated in two countries with such awesome and caring friends. Feel very lucky, thanks to everyone who came out and celebrated my dirty flirty 30!

Crazy Thing We Call Life

For the most part, I believe that everything happens for a reason, even if you don't know what it is.  There are a lot of things in my past that I've wondered about..what if I had taken that internship in London or what if I didn't go to business school and taken the job?  Who knows where I would be if I had lived in London for a year? Who knows where I would be if I decided to turn left instead of right, or taken a different bus?

I always think about the movie, "Sliding Doors" with Gwenyth Paltrow. In the movie, they show two scenarios, one where she misses the train and the other where she makes it.  When she makes the train, she comes home to discover that her boyfriend is cheating on her.  This leads her to meet another guy who she falls in love with but in the end she dies. However in the other scenario, the actual life scenario, she ends up catching her boyfriend cheating later and ends up meeting that guy anyways.  So I always wonder, what things are supposed to happen? Do I just trust fate that things will take its course?

I know now that going to business school led me to make some really awesome friends and helped me to get a job here in Sydney and enabled me to move halfway around the world.  This also gave me the opportunity to meet some great people and visit some amazing places and I've been able to spend time with my cousins and family here in Sydney, which I would never trade for anything.  Still wonder what life has in store for me and when I will see why fate brought me to Sydney.

Not sure why I am philosophizing, could be that I'll be turning 30 soon and starting to freak out a bit.  Haha..

The Places You Will Go

Still on the list of places to visit:

• Hunter Valley for some wine tasting
• Ayres Rock
• Brisbane
• Byron Bay
• Darwin
• Jervis Bay
• Tasmania
• Perth
• Melbourne - Great Ocean Road
• New Zealand - for snowboarding and potentially bungee jumping
• Japan - Tokyo, Osaka
• Thailand - Phuket, Bangkok, Koh Samu
• Vietnam - Saigon

Looking back...

Some days I still can't believe I'm living here in Sydney.   It was always just a far fetched dream that I wasn't sure would actually happen. It's been a little over a year now, which is pretty crazy. Time does fly by! I really feel lucky to have had this opportunity to live and experience a whole new place.  I will admit, there has been ups and downs, fun and hard times but I wouldn't take any of it back.  I've sadly missed out on seeing my nieces grow up, missed a few close friends' weddings, and missed out on things going on back in LA. But I have also been able to spend quality time with my cousins here and  watch their adorable kids grow up. I was also around when Maram and Quy discovered they were pregnant and now having a beautiful new baby boy, which is so awesome.

I still am not sure how long I will stay here or what my future holds, but in the meantime, I am enjoying this beautiful city and am grateful for all of the great friends I have made and for my family who has made this transition so much easier than it would have been without their support. I am thankful to have always had the support from my friends and family back home, who didn't necessarily want me to move halfway around the world.