Mount Cook & Lake Tekapo

On the second day (the very first full day) we headed for Mount Cook via Lake Tekapo. I have to admit that I don't have too much experience with highways in Australia (perhaps I get confused with motorways) but the highways that connected all the cities in New Zealand seemed quite small. They were always just one lane.









When we left Christchurch, it was incredibly overcast and a little chilly compared to Sydney weather. However, by the time we reached Lake Tekapo, the skies had cleared and it was a brilliant blue with no clouds. The colour of the lake was incredible! My photos do not capture the aqua coloured water. This lake (and in fact most of the lakes) are this colour due to the glaciers and the particles that settle in the water.









After a very long, but scenic drive, we arrived at Mt Cook and our accommodation which was incredibly shit considering it cost $150 / night. We were exhausted and with the little time we had left in the day, we to the lookout for the glaciers which was very underwhelming. But the view of the valley was breathtaking. I am sure it was used in a battle scene for Lord of the Rings (along with probably almost every single city in New Zealand).

Northern Beaches Outing

Right now I am on my way to Christchurch, New Zealand for my two week holiday. I must admit, I am a much better flyer these days however I don't believe I will ever become accustomed to long haul flights.

Last Friday, the Boy and I decided to fly a kite! Especially since watching "Saving Mr Banks" (which by the way is a completely underwhelming film) when I hear the word "kite" I immediately think of the song in Mary Poppins.

We went to Manly, near North Head and we flew a kite! I have actually never had this experience and it was pretty amazing watching it go up higher and higher.






For lunch, we headed to the Corso in Manly and I stupidly picked the BBQ Prawns without realising that I had to un-shell it myself. D'oh. It became incredibly messy and just not worth the effort. Naturally, the meal was completed with ice cream and sprinkles from Copenhagan.








Our next stop was North Curl Curl, my local beach. I actually hadn't been to the beach for years; the last time was in 2012 and the time before that was likely to have been in 2009 for my schoolies in Queensland.









It has been a crazy and intense week with the Boy; we spent around 50hrs together with each day spent togther averaging around 15 contact hours. We are now off on our own respective holidays and we will meet each other back in Sydney in a month's time. It is pretty odd, an intense week followed by a month break. We are planning on road tripping it down to Jervis Bay right before semester starts again which I am incredibly excited about. I hope that I can also convince him to drive a further hour down to Mollymook Beach (Veronica Mars! Although let's be real, the beach that Duncan and Lilly was on looked nothing like an Australian beach).

Sacrilege

This summer has been completely unexpected and amazing. I had always hoped that I would have gotten an internship. However, I didn't. In the end, I completed a summer school course and also re-met a Boy.




We went to watch The Book Thief which is actually one of the worst films I have ever seen. On par with 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Sacrilege at the Sydney Festival was the key thing that I wanted to visit and it was amazing. I can't remember the last time I was on a jumping castle and it was just ridiculous fun.













We finished the day watching the sunset and chatting at Pyrmont.

Blaxland Riverside Park

Last Friday, I went with a friend to Blaxland Riverside Park. I had always wanted to visit since I stumbled upon it on Tumblr. We drove to North Strathfield to visit Outback Steakhouse. When I was in the US, I felt that I had to visit an Outback Steakhouse at least once in my lifetime since it is such an "Australian" thing allegedly.











It was a super hot day and yet, when we arrived at the park, there was a lovely breeze. There were also a lot of kids as expected although a lot less screaming and squealing than I imagined.
















Afterwards we headed to Balmain and later on watched the sunset from a stunning location.