Family Time!

A day after I got back from holidays, my cousin Tawnya who lives in Melbourne, my aunt and uncle, and two of their friends came to Sydney for a few days. They had been visiting Tawnya in Melbourne and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see me (or the city...) Fortunately the weather was amazing while they were here as it can be a bit difficult during winter. After meeting them at Darling Harbour, we took the ferry out to Manly to look around the shops and have lunch. Tawnya and I took them to the restaurant we ate at when I first arrived- the place with the infamous nachos! After taking the ferry back to the harbour, we walked to the Opera House where they went to the Opera Bar and I headed back home.

On the second day, we went to Bondi and trekked from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach- possibly the best views of Sydney. Again, the weather was absolutely gorgeous along with the views the walk offered. This was my first time in Bondi and after visiting, I decided I wanted to live there after I'm done with uni (yes this does mean I'm considering staying) Bondi has a very laid back feel- definitely beach culture. As we walked from Bondi to Coogee, I could just imagine myself running the same trail every morning.

After seeing the group off that afternoon, I had a few days to relax and then it was off to Melbourne to spend a few days with Tawnya and Aunt Jill. When booking flights, I thought it would be a great idea to book a 7 am flight- never doing that again. After arriving, Jill and I went to the Vic market to look around and do some shopping- well she did some shopping- I was too tired to look. By 3 in the afternoon, I was dead tired, so we went back to Tawnya's apartment and waited for her to come home from work. The next day, Jill and I headed to South Melbourne. We first walked along the pier at St. Kilda and had brekkie at a cute restaurant at the end of the pier. Unfortunately the birds got to us, so we quickly left after we were done eating.

St. Kilda Pier

We headed off to South Melbourne- my main goal of the day was to introduce Aunt Jill to Max Brenner- the best chocolate restaurant. She thoroughly enjoyed it and I of course did too. After looking around and doing some shopping, we called it a day and went back to St. Kilda. We were very proud of ourselves for navigating Melbourne's tram system and not getting lost all day (thanks to Tawnya's two pages of directions!) That night we went back to the pier to see the penguins come in from feeding. Unfortunately we had just missed them, but it was still fun to see the pier at night.

Saturday was spent going into the city- or "into town" as Aunt Jill referred to it- to see the laneways. Off the main streets are alley ways packed with shops and restaurants. One particular laneway boasted graffit covering every inch (or cenimeter...) of the walls. Walls are constantly being repainted. In fact, while we were there, an artist was spray paining one of the sections.

Sunday was spent going to the South Melbourne market then lounging around all day- something Tawnya needed after being a tour guide for the past two weeks! Melbourne is a really great city, and it was amazing to finally see another part of Australia. Although, I have to say I prefer Sydney to Melbourne. I think if I lived in Melbourne, I would gain about 20 kilos- the food there is so good! Especially the sweets- cupcakes and macaroons.

I have about 2 weeks left of break, then uni starts back up. Stay tuned for second semester!