I've Come From A Land Down Under

G'day Mate! Just returned home from one of my best layovers to date: Sydney, Australia! Visiting Australia has always been a dream of mine, but in recent years it has become more of a priority since meeting one of my best friends while interning at Walt Disney World, Dean, who was born, raised, and currently lives in Sydney.

Dean, being the awesome friend that he is, took off an entire day of work upon hearing the news that I'd be gracing his city with my presence, and planned a jam packed day of adventure and site seeing. We started off our day with breakfast at a cute little cafe close to my hotel. As all world travelers know, days of non stop adventure are only successful if you begin them with a carb overload. Therefore I had no other choice, but to indulge in one of the world's largest slices of banana bread known to mankind. Yep, it was delicious!

After breakfast we headed down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where we stood and admired the 440 feet high structure safely from the ground...and then decided to connect a bunch of harnesses onto ourselves and scurry to the top of the bridge that is famously nicknamed "The Coathanger." Before I continue, let me explain a little something...I have a very real fear of heights, now I know, I know, what a ridiculous statement for someone who spends the majority of her time well above 30,000 feet. For whatever reason, airplanes don't bother me, it's roofs, cliffs, the clear plastic step out box on the observation deck of the Sears Tower, and things with ledges I could fall off of that freak me out! And yes, bridges just so happen to fit into this category as well.

So after arriving at the bridge climbing facility, Dean and I were issued grey full body suits (grey in order to camouflage ourselves with the bridge, and minimize distractions to drivers on the bridge), and instructed to remove jewelery, hair pins, and anything else that could do some serious damage if dropped from the top of the bridge onto innocent pedestrians below. Usually, one bridge climbing leader takes up groups of twelve people at a time, however, since Dean and I are international celebrities were the only ones who registered for the 9:40 A.M. session, our small but mighty group consisted of just the two of us.

The climb was not nearly as scary as I had planned it out to be in my head! We were hooked to safety harnesses throughout the entire trek, and actually spent much more time walking on an enclosed slope than actually climbing up steep stairs. Despite the strong winds that greeted us at the top, the view of Sydney was incridible. We were able to see the entire harbor, the Sydney Opera House, and most importantly, the building where Dean works! Fear of heights, you are dead to me!

After our climb, it was time to refuel again, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a local Australian pub before taking a short ferry ride across the harbor, and ended up at Wild Life Sydney, a zoo featuring a wide array of native Australian creatures. We saw wallabies, wombats, crocodiles, and my personal favorite, Koalas. Unfortunately, the Kangaroo exhibit was temporarily closed for "refurbishments." Suspiciously enough, the gift shop was running a special on Kangaroo jerky.... The best part of Wild Life Sydney? Being able to speak Steve Irwin style for an entire two hours! Right, Dean?

After hanging out with the koalas, who just so happened to be in the midst of their mating season (with every lustful stare I went into a slight panic that Sir Treehugger was about to leap off his branch and have his way with my golden locks), we drove down to the famous Bondhi Beach. It's currently winter in Australia, but that didn't stop up from ending our fabulous day with ice cream cones on the beach =)

September cover of Knock Knees Weekly

The only thing on the Sydney Itinerary that did not get crossed off was me taking Dean's car for a whirl on the left side of the road. Although he was completely willing to turn over the keys (I really have no idea why), I decided that due to rush hour traffic coupled with the fact that I'm not exactly a great driver on the right side of the road, I'd go ahead and skip that little activity. All in all, first trip to Australia=a success!

 

And now a word from Grief Watch 2012. This past week marked the sixth month anniversary since we lost mom. If found, please return to...I kid, I kid. It wasn't a horrible day, but I noticed, and she was on my mind more than usual that day. Part of me is really proud of how well we've all done in the past six months. Part of me is just really, really sad that six months have passed since I woke up to an email from my mom. The email was in response to me telling her I had lost the slip of paper that had my current address written on it. She shared with me this vital information that, being the great mom was was, she had filed away. She then wrote, "Little girl, didn't I ever teach you to memorize your own address? Have a good day, pumpkin!"

Always the care taker.

 

Part of me is mad, but a bigger part than that is just really grateful. Grateful for all the mom love I do have in my life, like my aunts and my mom's close friends who continue to send me emails to check on me. And my friends' moms from all over the world, many of whom I've never met, sending me sweet notes, homemade pillows, tea sets, angel necklaces, and most recently an authentic Australian bracelet (thanks, Mrs. Morgan), just to let me know they are thinking of me. I'm grateful for all my friends and family who let me cry and reminisce as much as I want to. Grateful for all the signs that my mom continues to give me, just to let me still know she's around, like my hotel room number I was assigned on the night of her six month anniversary, 1415 (her cell phone was ***-***-3114, mine was ***-***-3115). Overall, the past six months have made me realize just how cool it was that I got to spend 24 years being raised by someone who seeped kindness, loved everyone, and just overall excelled at life, and despite how many more "six months" go by, I STILL get the priviledge of calling her my mom! And for that, I think I will be forever grateful!

 

Have a great week!