Update

What to say... What to say... I'm struggling for the words, so bear with me, and know that this is not really the same type of content that I've written about in previous posts (like over a year ago - yikes).  Usually I have some story to tell or some interesting place to describe.  But, that is not so much the case right now.  Still, I did promise to a persistent one or two of you readers (hi mom and dad) that I would update this so, here I am.  I guess the reason that it has been hard to put into words what I'm up to is because that would require some self-reflection, something I have been trying to avoid.  Honestly, I've been pretty down about what I've been doing, mostly because (*spoiler alert) I'm out of school and I haven't found that jaw-dropping, career-popping job yet.  Overall, I'm not entirely enthused with this confusing limbo I've ended up in (and I didn't even stretch for it).  I've avoided putting my life to virtual paper because I am my own worst critic and I don't think my life is entertaining enough to share (blame social media).    But, if any day was the day to write about it, it would be today, because I got some pretty great, albeit small, news. I think that is what literary-types call a hook, so keep reading to find out the small flattery that happened, especially you, mom and dad because I haven't even told you guys and there will be a pop quiz at our next skype sesh.

I felt like you needed a picture break from the rambling text that is the previous and next paragraph.

Ok so, here's the sitch, I finished all of my classes in November, and passed them (flying colours omitted, but I'm still proud).  Some of you may remember me saying over the Christmas holidays that I was nervous about one class in particular that could have gone either way: pass or fail.  I have thought it may have been a little easier if I did fail because then I would still have some purpose (sorry if this blog is sounding overly melancholic - I'm fine, I swear).  At the very least, it could have postponed this confusing transition to a career.  I just don't like the feeling of not having any clue of what to do next.  I suppose this personal fact may shock some because I have jet-set across the Pacific and booked other spontaneous trips.  But, in the grand scheme I always like to know what I'm doing.  I would say that my newly-earned Master's degree in International Relations has opened up a whole world of ideas, opportunities, and career paths.  In a recent meeting with a recruiter, I had no idea what field to tell her I wanted to be placed in, let alone type of position.  I'm not sure what she made of that, but time will tell... I think I've narrowed it down to administration for the government or a not-for-profit.  That is still very broad range, but I'm coming to terms with not defining my ideal role right away.  What has added fuel to this fire in this little brain of mine is my Australian visa.  I have not received a conclusion about my Post-Study visa and now it's a waiting game for the next few month about whether I can stay or not (I'm not well versed in the visa system and whether its a lottery draw among the students, but cross your fingers for me!).  Without complaining (sorry Oz government), I will say that the looming visa decision is a hamper on my applications to jobs of interest.  I want to work full time for an extended period of time, but in my and and any potential employer's mind, I might have to leave the country at a moments notice.  I've been told that this is very unlikely. So, it is yet another obstacle in my head (a brain barrier, if you will). I have been working on straightening up in this game of limbo and am increasing the number of applications I put in.  So, that awe-striking, Amanda-liking job must be right around the corner.  In the meantime, I keep out of trouble by working casually at a travel agency, where I write educational articles on travel destinations that I cannot afford to go, but would love to go; as well as volunteering at a charity, where I am providing some administrative assistance to fundraisers participating in a huge event.

Seamless transition for today's overly-hyped news. I definitely regret using this as the hook.  I was volunteering at the charity, as I do every Monday and Tuesday, when I get asked to a meeting by a manager of not my team - mysterious and nerve-racking.  She called me into a room with another manager.  It turns out it is because they want to consider me for some casual, paid work during their busy period.  As luck would have it, they are coming up to one of their biggest donation appeals just as a number of their team have organised some leave. Without me knowing, they asked my actual supervisor about poaching me and called me into a meeting to essentially see if I would be interested.  It isn't a done deal, but most of the meeting was spent talking about what the role would be, where I could sit and what days I could come in.  I was particularly flattered when, at several points of the conversation, they talked about fighting with my supervisor for me.  Even if it doesn't work out, I felt so great that they had noticed my work and approached me with the possibility of a job, rather than the what feels like millions of applications I've been sending out without response. Just a great feeling.

In other news, I moved houses.  For the last year, I had been living in a nice waterfront house in Five Dock.  But, fairly rapidly, my flatmates and I decided that it made the most sense for all of us to leave at once, rather than in monthly succession as we were all kind of thinking.  So within three weeks, I had to find somewhere to go and pack up all of my stuff.  Plus we had to thoroughly clean the house - a task which took the better part of an entire day, and five people.  That's how the story goes.  

The view from the house I was living in Five Dock.

My new room.  I had a lot of fun decorating.  Fun fact: I stole the plant from the travel agency I work at.  Not really, we were moving offices (into an apartment building- how different!)

Its kind of a small room, but I love it.  All the plants are fake.  The one on the left is also one I saved from the garbage tip for the travel-agency move.  I got some annoyed looks as the leaves poked people on a crowded train at rush hour.  Worth it.

What I did do for extra motivation was rent a car to move my stuff, so that I could also take a little day trip to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, which is about an hour and a half drive north of Sydney.  I have heard it is one of the best spots in Sydney, with one of the best trails.  I wholeheartedly agree.  It was a short hike, but the view was lovely, and I arrived at golden hour.  Even though I only spent about an hour there, taking in the breeze, and walking along the beach, it quickly became a favourite spot.  I was on the verge of tears as my stress melted away when I dipped my feet in the water.  Also I saw a fox. I should go back there.  

A kookaburra.  Very Australian.

View from the top.  I was a sweaty mess from cleaning, the 30 degree day, and a steeply inclined walk.  Still very happy to see this view.

Camoflauge level: just okay.  But enough so the people in front of me didn't notice.

I have now moved back to Newtown, which was where my student residence was when I first arrived.  I'm at the other end of Newtown now, in a great location, plenty of buses and train options.  Plus, when I'm sad about no longer living with the view of the water (and pelicans!), I just go out to one of the many restaurants within walking distance from my new place.  I still haven't tried the half of them.  Quick side note - I am working on being a vegetarian.  I'm don't strictly follow the diet, but most days I make meatless meals.  I feel really good about it, but I also feel no shame in having chicken wings or a burger every now and then.

I think the last update I will leave you with is that I got a tattoo to commemorate my time in Sydney -two years and counting (again, Australian government please let me stay for a little while longer).  It took four and half hours and cost more than a week's rent.  But I am in love with how it turned out. 

It's a watercolour sea turtle with the world map on its back (on my rib cage).  I was going to call him Sydney - Syd for short - but then that's my flatmate's name.  Plus I realised that it was ridiculous to name your tattoo.  

I've been some other fun stuff in between working, volunteering, and stressing about the career limbo (in equal parts).  I went to my first ever art gallery opening, with glasses of wine and speeches and everything. I've never felt cooler. I'm also going to a concert on Saturday, which should be amazing!  Despite some dramatic kind of sad comments earlier on, hopefully I put enough light-hearted parentheticals so that you don't worry about me. I will figure my life out eventually and will keep trying to reach my goals (after I somewhat define them first).  I am happy, healthy, and have now broken the ice on posting more everyday-life content, so I can keep updating you.

Love from,

Amanda

A Weekend Visit to Uluru

Auntie Ali and I arrived to a very dinky looking airport at about 2pm and hopped on a bus to the Resort.  We stayed in the Outback Pioneer Lodge and boy were we in the outback.  They call this area the red centre because of the oxidized sand that is really red.  It was also really cool that the sand and the rock formations (Uluru and Kata Tjuta) changed colour at different times of the day.  Sometimes they were more orange or even purple.  Just wild!

We had a pretty nice room, plus it was close by to a bar with live music and the pool, both of which we made use of.  We did a bit of exploring after we dropped our bags off in our room and ended up at the little museum/art gallery in the main square of the resort.  We got there right in time for a tour of the museum, talking about the history of the area and the animals you could see around. Then we had a tour scheduled for the evening to see the Field of Light display.  We were picked up from our hotel just before the sun started setting to be taken to a private dune.  There was a first clearing where we were given sparkling wine and our first sighting of Uluru.  Truthfully, at almost every tour we took there was unlimited wine included.  Not too shabby.  But it did keep our hands full when we were trying to take pictures.

There were also several platters of canapes including prawns, cheese puffs, and kangaroo crostinis, among others.  We spent a while watching the sun go down, taking pictures, mingling, eating and drinking.

Once the sun went down, we headed to a second clearing on the dune where tables were set up for a buffet dinner.  We ate under the stars, and without any bugs! There were about eight per table and we sat with some very nice people, who we ended up seeing around  resort the rest of the weekend.  We even ate dinner with a couple from a place we hadn't heard of close to Melbourne.  Most of our table was made up of Australians.  But, it was a very common thing to recognize people from different tours around the resort.  In fact, we sat next to a family of four on the flight over, saw them on two tours, then were on the same flight back to Sydney.  It was a very cool atmosphere because the resort is like a small community in itself.

The buffet had so much good food; over three types of salad, chicken, kangaroo loin, beef.   Of course, in good buffet etiquette, I took a little bit of everything.  We had a waiter for our table who never let our wine glasses go empty and was so nice.  There was a didgeridoo player to create the ambiance too!

Photo Credit: Alison Roy (Auntie Ali)

After dinner, they turned out all of the lights to expose the most incredible milky way.  Then one woman did a small star talk to point out the interesting stars and planets with one of those extra strength laser pointers.  I think I remember her pointing out Venus and maybe Jupiter.  But, I could very well be making that up.  It was amazing regardless.  Once the lights were turned back on, it was time for the dessert buffet, complete with a glass of port.  The meal was so filling and delicious!

To complete the night, we had about 45 minutes to walk through the Field of Light, which was an art installation with over 50,000 colour-changing lights set up in a field that you can walk through.  It was a fantastic sight. My pictures don't really capture its awe-inspiring affect, but I'm sure you could google better ones.

After the Field of Light, the buses took us back to the hotel and we hit the hay.  The next morning we did a Desert Awakening tour.  Our tour guide Toby picked us up bright and early (5:35am) in a huge 4W bus thing, which was awesome in itself, to take us to yet another private dune to see the sunrise.  Here's the bus just for kicks:

No word of a lie, the picture on the license plate is a
crocodile eating a pelican.

From this dune, they fed us a nice breakfast and coffee (thank god) as we watched the sun come up.  We ate bacon and egg rolls, as well as danishes and damper with golden syrup (more or less tasted like pancakes). Some sunrise pictures:

The gorgeous colours definitely made the early wake up call worth it.  Actually, sunrise/sunset pictures are the bread and butter of any trip to the area.  They were quite magical.  After the sun rose, Toby took us for a drive all around the perimeter of Uluru, and told us the stories of the sacred rock formation from the Anangu peoples of the area, including that of the lizard man, the Mala man, and the serpent Lira.  We had a couple of stops to get out and walk about the base of the rock.  We opted not to climb it for two reasons: it is considered disrespectful to the Anangu and it looks hella scary to do.

Not sure if you are able to zoom in, but the speck in the middle is actually two people.

Not to worry, there will be plenty more pictures of Uluru, after all we were there for three full days to see it.  While still on this tour, we also stopped in to the Cultural Centre and souvenir shops before driving back to the hotel for a much needed nap (well just me, Auntie Ali walked around the hotel more).

Just randomly, I was completely fascinated by the cloud formations that day.  It moved completely in one sheet:

The clouds stayed in a perfectly straight line the entire morning.

After a bit of a restful afternoon, we headed off for another sunset viewing of Uluru.  There is actually a designated parking lot for sunset viewing, so more or less the entire resort was there.  Once again we had sparkling wine and snacks (well only crackers by the time we got to the table; people devoured them). 

Cheers!

Purple/pink sunset

We ran into the couple that we sat beside the night before at the Field of Light and arranged to eat dinner with them later.  We went to the bar with live music, which was just a man with his guitar, but he was excellent! We had pizza and chatted. It was a fantastic night.

Guess what that is?

The next morning, we went on the Uluru sunrise and base walk tour.  It was another early rise, but still so great.  We started off on the 12 km base walk and had a very passionate guide named Macca. He told us about the history of the area, the injustices against the Anangu people, the Anangu stories about Uluru, and the different flora and fauna.  It was a very educational walk as he told us how the area was used for bomb testing, the events surrounding the land "hand back" on the condition that the park be leased back to the government, and pointed out all of the plants.  More or less all of the plants and animals as far as the eye could see was used for some purpose by the local peoples, either for food or weaponry.  The ones that stuck in my mind were the spinifex grass used for glue and the honey ants.  Here is a series of photos along our hike:

Thats Auntie Ali

We stopped for breakfast about halfway into the hike.  They had hot coffee and a breakfast bag with cereal, fruit, and trail mix.  They even provided little stools for us to sit on while we ate.  Then we headed off on the rest of the hike.  We saw some rock art, a little watering hole, and more of the incredible caves that line the whole rock.

The Mala man

It was a beautiful sunny and warm day. The hike was stunning and we had a great time learning and hanging out with the other people on the walk.  We did have to be a little careful not to fall behind because we were taking so many pictures.  But we made it and got the certificate of achievement at the end to commemorate walking the entire base of Uluru.  Before we headed back to the hotel for a short dip in the freezing pool, we had a surprise visit by this guy:

It's well camouflaged, but there is a juvenile snake, which Macca told us was highly venomous!

 This was effectively our last visit to Uluru. So, I am sure he was just bidding us farewell.  I just realized that I didn't put any pictures of us on the hike, so here is some proof:

Girls trip!

As mentioned, we went for a dip in the pool when we got back to the hotel.  It was like ice water but we braved it because it was a very hot day.  In all honesty, I also didn't stay in very long because there was a shadowy corner that I was somewhat convinced could have a crocodile lurking.  We dried off and walked back to the main square of the resort for more souvenirs.  We also stopped to listen to a bush yarn talk, which was a showing of some of the weapons used by the local Anangu, including boomerangs, spears, and the tool used for throwing the spears.  The man giving the talk was very entertaining and had personal stories of his family using these instruments and hunting animals.  For example, his grandmother walking barefoot through water and grabbing snakes with her bare hands. It was a very interesting talk.  We then took another tour to see the sunset.  This time, though, we went to Kata Tjuta, otherwise known as the Olgas.  Of course, there was more wine and snakes (oops typo, I meant snacks).   

Finally, that fire red colour that I thought Uluru/Kata Tjuta looked like all of the time.

Apparently only 20% of people who visit the park go to visit Kata Tjuta.  Everyone just sticks to seeing Uluru.  That is just silly if you ask me.  It was another beautiful sight and the sun really played up the red the night we went to see the Olgas, more so than when we saw the sunset on Uluru.

This more realistically shows you all of the views I saw.  My face was glued to my camera.

This was also the point where my heart absolutely broke.  I went in my camera bag to change my lens, but when I went to pull out my zoom lens, I heard broken glass.  Not a sound you want to hear.  So I was super bummed.  But, I later found out that it was just the protective lens that I added to the end and it still works fine.

Back to Yulara.  We finished off the night by having dinner at the hotel bar and going on a brief walk to a lookout point to take pictures of the milky way.  Despite being only a couple hundred meters, maybe even less (I am bad at judging distance), from the hotel, the lookout was pitch black and the stars were great.  We weren't the only ones with that idea, but everyone was very quiet and kept their lights off to see the stars.  Not to brag, but I am getting better at taking milky way shots.  It is a process; I look forward to the day that I can take the most amazing star shot ever.  This was not that day, but I'm getting there.

The next day we had a slow morning, getting a really nice breakfast at the the Kulata Academy Cafe.  We took a last look around the shops and the resort before we had to head to the airport to get back to Sydney.  It was an absolutely incredible trip with great views, great company (thanks Auntie Ali!), and another check off of my Australian tourism to-do list.

Back to Sydney

Auntie Ali Comes to Oz

A few weeks ago (okay so it was a month) my aunt came to visit! She started her journey in Brisbane then spent a week with me in Sydney before we went on an adventure!  It was probably not the smartest idea that I have ever had to a couple weeks off from class, and I have been working to make it up ever since, but it was so worth it!

So we started by having some fun in Sydney. Auntie Ali flew in on a Monday night.  She made it to my tiny apartment, despite the poor directions I gave her. Then the tour began Tuesday.  We started by heading straight to the harbour.  We say the Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour Bridge, the Royal Botanic Gardens, St. Mary's Cathedral, and ANZAC memorial.  Needless to say, it was a lovely long walk for the better part of the morning and afternoon.  We walked around the whole perimeter of the Opera House and said hello to the seal that has taken up permanent residency on the steps there.  Then we walked throughout the Botanic Gardens and saw all of the amazing trees that are there.  I have been there a few times, but it never disappoints.  We ate lunch at the Botanic Gardens Cafe.  It was a hopping place, but we nabbed a table and ended up sharing with a really nice pair of older ladies who were very friendly and had some funny stories.  The one that I stuck in my mind was the one woman who went to a performance of Carmen put on outdoors in the garden.  I guess she and her son sat on the top row of the bleachers under a tree.  And the tree was full of bats.  And the bats kept peeing on the top row throughout the performance.  She had a great attitude and was laughing at herself as she was telling the story.  But, I would have been so mad!  After lunch, we headed through Hyde park and popped into St.Mary's Cathedral, which I have never seen on the inside.  But, as a service was just letting out and there was no photography inside, I wont be able to show you.  It was beautiful with a lot of intricate stain glass and high ceilings.  We also stopped in the ANZAC Memorial. Here's a picture of that:

Trying to be artsy.  'Trying' being the operative word.

I did have to head back after we saw that because I had evening class.  We headed back together, but I left Auntie Ali to fend for herself the rest of the night.  I also left her to her own devices for all of Wednesday so that I could go to the library to get some reading done as well as get to my two classes. But, what she did get up to on Wednesday was a boat cruise, a tour of the Sydney Opera House, the Maritime Museum, and I think a few others, but you would have to ask her.

On Thursday, we spent the day at Taronga Zoo.  We took the ferry over, then took the gondola up to the top of the zoo.  It is a very different zoo because it is built on a hill and you sort of wind your way down back toward the wharf.  It is really well laid out and you get to see views of the city skyline pretty much the entire time.  Check it:

Room with a view

We had a bit of a photo shoot.

Some of the other highlights of the zoo, beyond the amazing view, were the baby Asian elephant, the laughing kookaburra (he was really loud), the walkabout kangaroo/emu/wallaby enclosure, the otter feeding, the baby pygmy hippo, and lots more.

Following the zoo, we went to hang around the rocks area for the evening.  We did some shopping then had a drink at the Glenmore Hotel, which had a fabulous rooftop patio.  We snapped up the table on the roof, with direct sights to the Opera House.

Our photographer did not quite get that we wanted the Opera House to be in the picture, but if you look closely, it is there.

After that we went to a Mexican bar called El Camino Cantina, for some nice food and drinks.  We had some very different tasting mojitos because they had nutmeg or some other spice on top of the lime and mint.  The food was quite good; spicy, but good.  Plus it was happy hour so they had free, unlimited chips and dip, yes please!

On the Friday, we took a trip to the Blue Mountains.  We took the train for two hours and headed straight for breakfast when we got there.  We ate in the quaint little cafe called Little Paris. Then we made our way to Echo Point to see the Three Sisters.  We had to stop at a little shop to buy a toque because it was unexpectedly cold in the mountains.  For perspective, there was a slight flurry of snow. But, we Canadians braved it.  We did a small hike to the Three Sisters, or I guess which ever is sitting closes to the rest of the mountain.  It was a very steep descent/ascent with barely enough to room to pass people going the opposite direction.  If I remember correctly, Auntie Ali counted almost 200 steps directly down.

This is a picture of complete strangers to demonstrate the steepness/narrowness

It was only a little scary.  Then you had to walk over a little bridge with a however many hundred feet drop below.  I will say this though, there were a lot of people but everyone waited their turn to cross the bridge and take individual pictures on the rock.  It was appreciated.

We then headed back to the train station to make our way back to the city.  Auntie Ali bought us tickets to go to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.  We went to my place to change, then went for dinner at a pub called Buckley's (it did NOT taste awful and it worked). Then we saw a performance of Beethoven Piano Concerto 2 and Bruckner 5.  It was a lovely night out and the piano player, Imogen Cooper, was amazing.  The conductor, Simone Young, also made it really enjoyable because she was rocking out with some dance moves.  It was a perfect day and night for Auntie Ali's last day in Sydney. 

Then on Saturday, we headed on our adventure! We went to Yulara to see Uluru (otherwise known as Ayer's Rock).  But, I am going to leave you on that cliff hanger because, it is my bed time.  Will post what we did in the Red Centre tomorrow!