EvBetPGH Down Under: The Blue Mountains

On my second day in Australia, Marlana, Courtney and me took a drive to the Blue Mountains for a few hours of hiking. We went to the Three Sisters area and wandered along the trails. For the first hour or so, I was really concentrating on keeping an eye out for snakes, as Australia has something like eight of the ten deadliest snakes in the world. But eventually the fear subsided, and I could enjoy more than the ground under my feet. Here's a sampling of what I saw a couple hours outside the city:

The Three Sisters

Rules and Things

Tic Tac Toe

Hmmm. Looks almost like being back in Pittsburgh.

EvBetPGH Down Under: Melbourne

Most of my journey to the other side of the world was spent in Sydney. But for a day and a half, Rob and I lived a much faster life (well, a bit slower on the half of that day we were really hungover) in Melbourne. 

I like Sydney. Don't get me wrong. But if someone forces me to move to Australia tomorrow, I'm heading straight for Melbourne. What Sydney lacked in color (i.e. graffiti and street art - I'm pretty sure this is a top-five thing I want in a city), Melbourne made up for a thousand times over.

We spent our first few hours in Melbourne eating lunch and checking out the Parliament building. We spent the next twelve hours drinking. This didn't surprise me one bit, as my friend in Melbourne, Evan, was one of my favorite drinking buddies in Boston. We traveled around the city on foot, having a drink and then moving on to the next place. The variety of the establishments we patronized along the way (hey, I have to try and made a bar crawl sound somewhat otherwise than that) was awesome. There was a wine bar, a rooftop bar, a riverside bar, an outstanding Thai restaurant (ChinChin, where my picky-eater self tried EVERYTHING set down in front of me), bars down slightly scary alleys, and our own private karaoke room (which we were only in for an hour, but by the time we left it looked like we'd been partying in there all night). We ended our night a little after 2 a.m. down on the pier near Evan's apartment, hanging out with the wild penguins who live in the rocks. The whole day and night was an excellent use of our time. 

The next morning? A little rough. 

But once we managed to get ourselves (somewhat) together and put some food (and Gatorade) in our bellies, Rob and I set off to wander around the city and see what we could before our flight that evening. We saw a lot of awesome graffiti, something I saw practically none of in Sydney.

We saw this dragon, made of plastic bottles, in Chinatown:

We also saw this warning sign about the trams that go up and down the Melbourne streets:

The analogy here is that getting hit by a tram would be like getting hit by a rhino on a skateboard. Australia, I adore you.

We also saw this fellow, not really sure what he was doing other than standing around?

Something we did not see, though we did try and find, are featured in the following videos.

I'll guess I'll just have to go back and find those two next time. And I do hope there will be a next time! Melbourne seemed like my kind of place, and I would love to explore it more. A big thank you to Evan and Nary, who showed us an awesome time for the short time we had there. I leave you with photobooth pictures the four of us took, probably near hour seven or eight of drinking. They are an awesome indication of the night we had in Melbourne. 

EvBetPGH Down Under: Manly Beach

Growing up in Pittsburgh, you learn to love rivers. But if you grew up in Sydney instead, you probably learn to love the beach. And "love" might be not strong enough. From what I could tell, Sydney folk LIVE the beach. Maybe it was because I was visiting in November, when their spring starts to turn to summer, but the laidback vibe was pervasive and contagious. It's been a struggle to get back into the swing of things here at home after ten days of living without many responsibilities. 

While in Sydney, I spent time in Manly Beach, which is where my friend Mullen has cast her lot. As you might be able to tell from the photo above, Manly Beach is a little like a beachy paradise. Actually, a lot like a beachy paradise. 

Here are some photos to enjoy, and then be jealous of, when you realize that up here in the United States, we are settling in for the dark cold winter months (i.e., the exact opposite is happening in Australia).

Walking along the beach in Manly will easily get you into the "Manly Vibe."

Beach volleyball, surfing, sunning... Is this real life?

The Corso - where every other shop sells surf-style fashions, most people look like they walked right out of the 1990s, and food and drink options are a plenty.

At the edge where the beach meets the cliff, there is an odd little pool.

Flowers on the cliffside.

My last full day in Sydney was spent in Manly. It was my only opportunity of the trip to rent a bike. And it was also the first day of the cold I caught, which is still holding strong, nearly a week later. But, I wasn't going to let a pesky sore throat and runny nose stop me from exploring. Even though I was a little concerned that the combination of a cloudy head and the whole "driving on the other side of the road" thing could be a problem. I never got used to traffic being on the left, and hardly ever jay-walked because I could never figure out which way the cars were coming from.

When I rented the bike - er, "hired" the bike - the guy at the place was advising me on where I should go that would be easy to navigate, not knowing anything at all about Manly's layout. I wanted to go to the park up at the top of one of Manly's cliff. He warned me about a very steep hill, to which I scoffed and thought, "Psssshh... I'm from Pittsburgh. I own steep hills." And then about thirty minutes later, when I was about halfway up the steep hill and was cursing my cold for making me feel week, I thought, "This park better be worth it, because I now feel as awful one of those turd lizards looks."

Fortunately, I was handsomely rewarded for the steep-hill-climb effort.

The bike that got me around, and that I did not crash while navigating left-hand-side riding.

Now that I'm back home, where the sun is setting upsettingly early and the clothing layers are starting to happen, Manly is becoming a distant memory. But it's nice to know one of my best friends lives there, and that a return trip is likely necessary one day. After all, I never did try that whole surfing thing...

EvBetPGH Down Under: Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens

Admittedly, I am not the girliest girl. I've always been a bit on the Sporty Spice side, even though in high school when my friends (hello, Milana, Eva, and Lindsey!) and I dressed up as the Spice Girls for fun (we really did), I was always Baby Spice. What I'm trying to say, is that I'm not about to wear a combination of pink and leopard and spend three hours on my hair and make-up. But I do like fun dresses, am starting to wear heels and lipstick (gasp!) more often, and there's always my tendency to love even the worst romantic comedies. Another girly thing I like: flowers. 

For that reason, Phipps Conservatory has always been a favorite spot of mine in Pittsburgh. 

Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens are like Phipps times at least one hundred.

My first few hours in Sydney were spent wandering around the Gardens as part of a scavenger hunt Marlana had prepared for me while she finished the rest of her working day after picking me up from the airport. I was so instantly charmed that I didn't want to leave. I visited them three more times during my trip, either for walks to take up time, walks to find things, or walks to steak dinners. They are absolutely beautiful, and more like walking through a dream because they are so immense. It's kind of funny to see that photo above with the city in the background, because being in the gardens makes you completely forget a bustling metropolis is just a few hundred yards away. 

Pretty lily pads!

I will take a dozen of these plants in my fantasy backyard garden, please!

A couple dozen or so of these guys too.

Sydney might not get a fall with the changing leaves like we do, but they have crazy purple trees! It's like being in a Dr. Seuss book.

So many carvings on all of the bamboo tress in the gardens.

A real treat was coming upon the Wollemi Pine!

Now, because I saw the word dinosaur and got excited, I think I jumped to te conclusion that these trees were around with dinosaurs. Rereading that sign now, it's a little unclear if that is true, but let's go with it cause I posed for the picture and all. (Note: very sleep deprived, the day after crazy Melbourne trip, and we'd been walking around all day long by this point.)

If I lived in Sydney, this would be one of my most favorite places. There are still so many nooks and crannies of it I've yet to explore. I'll have to hit those the next I'm down under.