I was quite surprised when we got near the city and the surrounding landscapes were more hilly than I had realized. The city is laid out in a very unique circular pattern in order to have less of an impact on the natural landscape. To be honest, it was a bit difficult to navigate to our hostel when we first arrived (partly because it was dark) as it was quite disconcerting to be walking down a street (3 blocks as we were told) and feel as if you're circling back around to where you started without meaning to.
For any of those who don't know, Canberra is the capital city of Australia. We were told it was rather boring, but Kaitlyn and I decided to visit it anyways because we did a project last year on the Canberra Parliament Buildings and wanted to see it for ourselves. So, on my birthday (at least the Australian day), the two of us headed out in that direction in the morning, after a nice sleep in. It was quite surreal to see them in person, however although it is very impressive, I'm not entirely convinced that I like the architecture.
Our next stop was a nail salon in the mall to get our nails done as a fun activity for my birthday. We both got gel nails (to which my parents would later refer to as hawk talons - but seriously, they weren't that long!), complete with fancy designs. We stopped at a bookstore where I bought myself a book as a birthday present (as a tip - books in Australia are ridiculously expensive! A simple small paperback was $20) and went back to the hostel for a few hours to read and relax.
Kaitlyn and I went out for a nice pasta dinner, complete with a nice glass of Moscato for myself. As restaurants in the downtown area are also expensive, we decided to stop by a local grocery store afterwards where we bought apple pie and ice cream as a birthday cake (since all they had were mud cakes that didn't look to appetizing). Although I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get any birthday candles, it was delicious.
The next hour or so was spent in the pool, spa, and sauna in the basement of our hotel. We went out for another couple drinks at a lounge next to the hostel before calling it a day. Although simple, I had a great birthday and think its just awesome that I can say I turned 21 in Australia!
We headed to Sydney the next day in order to be there for Kaitlyn's birthday on July 5th. To celebrate her birthday, we once again slept in, got a full delicious breakfast, and headed to Bondi Beach. We were planning on skating at the beach, however it was $30 to skate. We decided that the price would have been alright to pay if it were a nice day out, however it was raining on and off so we walked down the beautiful beach and I bought her hot chocolate instead.
After heading back to the center of the city, we explored around Circular Quay (the pier) for a few hours before the sun set and we got a few of the skyline illuminated at night. It was absolutely stunning and a great way to end our travels in Australia.
It's hard to believe that my five month journey to Australia has come to an end and I'm back in Kelowna for the summer before heading back to finish my final year of university in Ontario. So I think I'll just end my blog with this: it was truly an amazing experience to get to see and study in Australia and although I'm back to reality, I'll never forget all the memories and friends I made along the way!
P.S. Pictures will be up once Kaitlyn returns home and can send them my way.
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