By Megan Hitchcock (University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia).
I’m a week and a half into my three month summer holiday and I’m already on my third flight of the holiday. I can’t even begin to explain how much fun I’ve had!
First stop Sydney – I spent nearly a week there and did so much! Sydney is definitely one of my favourite cities in the world and this week only emphasised that for me. I spent my first day there at Cockatoo Island, an industrial island just off Sydney with a really cool outdoor bar that plays live music for the classic Aussie ‘Sunday sesh’. After chilling there, we walked around the island only to happen to walk through an area of fake snow and lots of building work going on – we had accidently walked onto the film set of the new Angelina Jolie film ‘Unbroken’ due to come out soon!
The rest of the week was spent chilling in the sun and enjoying the perks of not feeling obliged to eat college food! Sydney dining is definitely something worth experiencing! On Wednesday I caught up with a friend who I haven’t seen in five years who is now living and working in Sydney, which was lovely! However being the ‘foodie’ I am, I managed to get a photo of the food we ate together (firecracker prawn dumplings) but not one of us, silly me!
Something definitely worth checking out if you ever get the chance to visit Sydney is Sydney’s hidden pubs and bars – there are so many hidden away that you only know about through word of mouth. A couple worth mentioning were one that from the outside looked like an old launderette and then inside was a really quirky cocktail bar – great if you’re a gin lover like me, as their takes on the standard g’n’t are definitely something worth trying! Another is behind the toilets of a very average looking bar, and then when you walk through you are suddenly in the 1920’s and feel like you are in an American Speakeasy – my first experience of a nitrogen cocktail there was also a great experience!
Even though I have been to Sydney before I felt obliged to make the trip that is a must for every Sydney tourist, and made a trip to Bondi. Don’t worry the essential walk along the boardwalk and a decent sunbathe was included, whilst I also managed to fit in my first photo with the Manchester hat – he is travelling with my for these three months so hopefully there will be more of those to follow! Sydney was also my first sighting of Christmassy stuff in sunny Australia – such a weird concept!
Although my delayed flight at the end of my trip to Sydney was slightly frustrating, the week was great and I can’t wait to be there with my Dad again to see the spectacular New Year that Sydney has to offer!
Next stop: Perth, for the weekend. This sounds crazy I know, but due to poor planning I then went back to Perth for the music festival Stereosonic. Although I have to say that it had nothing on Glastonbury earlier this year, is was a great weekend and lovely to see the Perth girls again! Being in Perth, and it not being completely sold out I managed to make it to the very front for lots of the acts – watching Armen van Buuren from the barriers was definitely something I won’t forget for a while! The atmosphere was electric – my first experience of an Aussie festival definitely lived up to all expectations!
This seems to be where I write my blog posts at the moment, but I am currently on the plane on the way to Brisbane – this is to see a friend who I met when I moved into halls in my first year of Manchester as he was on exchange from Brisbane. After a semester together he sadly flew home, and two years later we are finally going to be reunited! In the next blog post I will let you know how it goes!