This Christmas was my first one away from my family and
friends, which was a bit of a downer for me. My freakish level of holiday
spirit had to be funneled into decorating my apartment and thinking up creative
ways of incorporating Christmas into EVERYTHING my kids did at school. However,
for my winter vacation week I got off I decided to go visit my cousin and her
husband in Australia! The first thing I realized about Australia is that it
reminded me of Canada: vast, open spaces. Well actually that was the second,
since I came from a Korean winter the first thing I noticed was the sunny
warmth. I can’t imagine what people do there without cars to get from place to
place. Each and every road outside the cities offers stunning views of greenery
and wilderness, with lots of hills and mountains.
My cousin lives in Wollongong, which is a smaller city about
an hour and a half outside of Sydney. My first day we woke up bright and early
to take a ride out to Jarvis Bay – a beautiful local beach that’s hidden from
most tourist maps. We were rushing to get there because it turns out that they
had bought me a surf lesson for Christmas! Now I tried snowboarding as a kid
but was never very good at it. That morning I remembered why. I spent the
better part of the group lesson with my legs flying over my head, falling off
the board. I did manage to stand up wobbily 2 or 3 times by the end, and
luckily my cousin caught that moment of triumph on camera. At the end, we
walked our boards back through the rocky path up to the parking lot and gave
back our wetsuits. After an awkward 10 minutes of pulling the wetsuit off
whilst adjusting my bikini back on, I gave it up and my dreams of being a
surfer babe. Lounging in the sun for a rest, minor sunburns were had by all,
and we enjoyed a picnic lunch.
We drove to plenty of coastal walks and cliffs that
overlooked the beautiful bays. Katie took me to a special water hole in a small
town, where people wait for the waves to crash just right to make the water
blow straight up through the hole. We also went to a Wildlife Reserve that let
you walk right up to their kangaroo’s to feed! The koala’s were a bit less
exciting since they didn’t move an inch the entire 2 hours we wandered the
park. Australia has a fantastic (and free) assortment of wineries in the
countryside that Katie and I spent New Years afternoon travelling to. Only one
of us got to really pre-drink for New Years Eve though, since one was a
responsible driver. After that we did a last minute run to the dollar store for
surprisingly mediocre masks and boas to complete our ensembles. God I’ve missed
dollar stores. We got all dolled up and headed to a seaside restaurant
overlooking the water and fireworks. There we met up with Katie and Dale’s
friends and filled our stomachs with the delicious three course meal and
unlimited drinks. We danced around to the live band, playing all the classics
my parents brought me up on. All in all it was a classy and fun affair for all!
After lazily recovering from New Years I got to eat my first
kangaroo Dale cooked up on the bawbie. Which I’m happy to cross off my must eat
list…but really I’m learning that most meat kinda tastes the same. Katie and I
went on an adventure for the next two days and spent them in Sydney. We walked
along the coast and through the parks to Sydney Opera House, where to escape
the rain we got a drink in the bar below, overlooking the bridge. We walked
around the city, exploring the shops and bar hopping around the boardwalk.
Clearly I was with a bar expert! I got to drink in a red carpeted, dim lit
indie bar; a club/bar underneath a fancy hotel that was decorated like the
inside of Rome’s churches and art museums, and a Sex in the City-esque bar
ontop an old theater. Though drinking is very expensive in Australia, the bars
have great atmospheres that are well worth checking out. Best things I tried
were ginger beer and macadamia nut wine. By the end of the trip I was
re-addicted to 30 Rock, hot weather, and living in a real house. The English
speaking part will be missed as well (with the added bonus of Aussie
accents).
