Author: Josephina von Blücher

Goodbye Dinner

My time in Australia is slowly coming to an end and I have really mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I can’t wait to see my family and friends again and to be back home but I really can’t believe this amazing experience will come to an end and my time in Australia will be over. I met so many great people here and made a lot of amazing experiences which I am so thankful for. I cannot put into words how grateful I am that I got the chance to experience this wonderful year here and would never trade it for anything. My time here has thaught me so much and I got to know myself better. So the time to say goodbye is slowly coming closer and this evening I had a goodbye dinner with some lovely girls from school:)

 

 

Vivid

Vivid is the world’s largest festival of light, music and creative ideas that comes to Sydney once a year. It’s most well-known for its light installations on the opera house and the harbour bridge. And right now it is in town. So after having dinner with my host sisters in the Spice Alley in the city we went to have a look at the amazing installations.

Imagine Dragons Concert

Last Saturday I went to the Imagine Dragons concert with my friends and it was amazing. I have always listened to their songs but never really knew the band very well and I was really positively surprised by the lead singer. I think I have to say it was my favourite concert ever so far!  I really enjoyed the way he talked about music and how he moved on stage along to the music and how he created a really good atmosphere through what he said. And what surprised me most was how powerful his voice was and that literally every song sounded exactly like you know it from the radio!

To remeber the victims of the school shooting in Texas that happened on the same day we held a minute of silence and he dedicated the song “Forever Young” to them to emphasize that it is important to protect the youth and that there has to be a change.

Bondi Coogee Walk

Today I finally did the Bondi Coogee Walk with two friends which is a famous costal walk that goes 6km along the coast between Bondi beach and Coogee beach. We followed a path that goes along the water and passes Bronte beach and several little bays. The view is amazingly beautiful with completely clear and turquoise water and in most of the bays there were many surfers that enjoyed the waves and people swimming and sun bathing.

The Grounds of Alexandria

The Grounds of Alexandria is a coffee roastery, café and garden in a suburb named Alexandria. Every weekend there is a market with weekly alternating stallholders with new local producers that sell food, beverages, skin care, gifts and homewares. Today I visited the market with my friends and we spend the day there. The location is lovely and the atmosphere was super nice.

Surfing in Manly

One thing that has been on my bucket list since the start was to go surfing in Manly. It is very cliché because Manly is one of the most well-known beaches around Sydney and very touristic but I think since I am living here for a year I can‘t leave without doing it once.

The surf forecast seemed pretty good for Monday so my friends Lara and Caroline and me took the train to Circular Quay and from there the ferry that goes to Manly. We rented boards in a surfshop next to the beach and went surfing for two hours. The surf was better than I expected and we really enjoyed it.

Newcastle

Since those are my last holidays here there are a lot of places I planned to visit and a lot of points of my bucket list I want to accomplish. Yesterday I got up at 5:15 because my friends and me decided to go up to Newcastle which is in the North of Sydney and a four hour train ride away. We arrived at 10 to spend the whole day there. Newcastle has wonderful beaches and many parts reminded me a lot of England.

We arrived at Newcastle Beach and then did the coastal walk which had a beautiful view on the sea and at one point we saw some dolphins jumping with the waves. Later on it went over into the Memorial Walk which is a bridge with men sculptures that remember the soldiers of the First World War.

Later on we walked along the Darby Street which has some cute little cafes and shops. And afterwards we decided to go back up to visit Nobbys beach and to do the walk up to the lighthouse.

Surfing in ‘Nulla

Since I started surfing in July last year the only photos I ever took while surfing were from my first lesson. This Saturday Luce got up early with Lara and me to take photos of us while surfing. We had high tide and the water was just going back to low tide again so there weren’t a lot of waves but the ones we had were pretty good for surfing! ??‍♀️