Bradley is (was) Here!

Hello friends,

Yes, it has been forever.. and by forever I mean a REALLY long time since my last post, but life has been very hectic since we last spoke. I've been saving these posts in a teeny tiny little notebook so I wouldn't forget any details to share with you all!

So, the date is March 16th (March 15th in Canada) and I am on my way in a Murrays bus to Sydney where I will FINALLY see Bradley for the first time ever in AUSTRALIA :D. Since his flight was scheduled to fly in at 930am and I couldn't get a bus to bring me from Canberra to Sydney that early in the morning, I chose to arrive the night before and sleep in the airport. Little did I know that you are NOT allowed to do that..so here I am at 10:00pm scrambling to figure out where I can sleep for the cheapest amount of money. The answer? I had to find my way by bus, then train, then monorail (IN THE DARK) from the Sydney International Airport to the City Centre and eventually to Maze Backpackers Hostel where I definitely did NOT get any sleep! While that night seemed to last forever, I eagerly awaited for 6am where I hopped on a shuttle bus back to the airport. Although it was far too early to be there, I was so over the loud hostel with a large spider potential!!!!!!! If most of you already don't know, I am terrified of spiders.. so I always associated places with the potential for scary/deadly spiders. To save you time reading, and me typing ill skip my story ahead... Bradley is here and I am HAPPY!!! woo.

We spent our first two days in Sydney where we stayed at the Ibis Hotel in Darling Harbor

Us in Darling Harbor, Day 1 in AUSTRALIA for Bradley :D

.. which is also where Laura and I stayed while visiting Sydney before. It is so beautiful with its lively and energetic atmosphere, flashing lights and uniquely arranged waterfront landscape.

Feeling like a tourguide, I showed Brad around the city where we explored the downtown streets of Sydney, Chinatown, Paddys Markets, Manly, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, etc etc etc. The most amusing thing for Brad were the birds, which we all know I clearly loved while we were there. Every time we saw the Ibis' walking around we would coax them toward us with chips, sandwiches and whatever else we had to eat that day. My Favourite part of taking Sydney by storm with Bradley was parasailing!!


Parasailing in the Sydney Harbour

 Not only was it amazingly fun, but it gave me a new perspective on the Sydney landscape and opened my eyes to how huge the city really was.

Sydney was absolutely amazing, mostly because I hadn't seen Brad for a month and a half, and it was where we first conquered Australia. However our travels did not end there! After our Sydney weekend, we hopped on a Murrays bus back to Canberra where we spent the next few days touring around Canberra where I showed him where we shopped, ate, went to class, hunted for roos etc. It was fun seeing Canberra from a different perspective since being there for so long already made me take the landscapes for granted.



dave, me, brad, laura, marina!



After catching up with all the fellow LA's, we decided to take a road trip to the world's whitest sand beach.. Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay. It was me, Brad, Marina, Dave and Laura.. Alex was m i a because he was stuck working for the day. The drive was long, extremely muddy and filled with potholes in dirt roads, but we finally got there and it was an amazing day! The sand was white, the waves were scary big and the weather was sunny and beautiful!

Surf camp was next on the list for our travel excurisions, but we already blogged about that one.



The Powerhouse Corolla!



The last few weeks of Bradley's visit were spent on road trips with just the two of us and it was amazing! The rest of the Canadian crew was in Fiji so we decided to journey to Melbourne... a 7-8 hour drive in which I really tried to stay away but failed. Our handy dandy rental car was amazing, and got us around with amazing fuel milage and lots of power :) Our road trip started in Canberra, then to Melbourne, then to Phillip Island, back to Melbourne and up the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles! Our original plan was to take the Great Ocean Road straight to Adelaide where we would meet up with Emily and Alison, but those plans were cut short due to the extreme power of the Corolla, and a 239$ speeding ticket we got.. by accident!

grassy blocks in Melbourne!

12 Apostles!

In case you weren't aware.. they ensure you know!

Views On Philip Island

Philip Island Koala Reserve!

The last few days spent with Brad in Aussie were in Canberra before we left for Sydney again two days before his flight was scheduled to leave. The trip was amazing overall. Having the experience to travel in Australia together was something I will never forget, and I can't wait to go back and see all the things we didn't get to the first time. Watch out Australia, round 2 of Mandy & Bradley take Australia is coming soon!