Harbor Cruise, Blue Mountains, and Getting Settled

My flights went well! I perfectly timed my sleeping to create a nearly jetlag-free experience. (Mostly luck, I assume.) On Thursday when I arrived, I met up with the group from my program and we went to the accommodations. For the semester, I am staying at Sydney University Village - if you want my full address, feel free to email me or message me in some other way. It is a nice little place over here. I am sharing a townhouse-style apartment with 4 other girls, with two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a nice little sitting area. The Village in general is super nice too - I wish dorms in the US were more like this, but I guess this isn't really a dorm. Other fun features include the crazy loud parrots and the elementary school right next door where the kids are outside ALL DAY! Both things really motivate me to get out of bed each morning (read: wake me up).

This was in the airport near baggage claim.

I did not make onto TV :(

In the evening of that first day, my entire group went on a cruise around the part of Sydney Harbour that has all the cool stuff. Not exactly sure where we started, but it took us around Circular Quay, and we saw the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park, and other cool stuff! Great food too.

^This is the neighborhood that

the dentist office is based on

in Finding Nemo.

On Friday, we had orientation with IES, the company that is managing a lot of the details of my time abroad. We went over a lot of American stereotypes and safety information and that kind of thing. Afterward, we had lunch at the Alfred Hotel, where the food was already on the table so we sat based on what we had ordered in advance earlier in the day. That was kind of fun because it forced everyone to talk to new people. A lot of people are studying abroad with friends in our program or other places in Sydney, so it has been difficult sometimes to connect with people, but there are a couple others like me who didn't know anyone beforehand. I had the fish and chips, so I have some new fish and chips friends!

Saturday was our day trip out of Sydney to visit Featherdale Wildlife Park and the Blue Mountains! The Wildlife Park was, as you might expect, completely amazing. So many Australian animals that were so cool to watch as they did their thing. I had no idea there were so many kangaroo-like animals that aren't actually kangaroos? I knew about wallabies but apparently there's also something called a pademelon and it was like a cat sized kangaroo thing that also felt like a cat when I touched it. That's right! Many of the safer animals were pretty much loose (within larger enclosures that we walked through) so we could pet them! And the wombat could stand up on its hind legs and sniff at us. So awesome.

Wallaby Wombat Cassowary

Koala (named Paddington!) Me and the Cassowary

Other reviews of the animals: Yes, dingos really do look like my dog Georgia, and oh my gosh if you don't believe birds come from dinosaurs you've clearly never met a cassowary.

After the Wildlife Park, we drove into the Blue Mountains, where we went on a rather strenuous hike to the middle-ish bottom of a waterfall. It was called the Wentworth Falls hike, highly recommend! There were some rather steep stairs that made both the way down and the way back up very difficult, but were worth it for the beautiful views.

After those amazing adventures, a new friend and I found a gnoccheria near our accommodation for dinner - the delightfully named Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers.

More adventures coming soon!