Adventures and some Australian Pop Culture

Hello Everyone! Midsem exams are rapidly approaching, which means more of my time is being spent studying and less exploring.  Although I'm usually one to put off my studying until a day or two before the exam, knowing that each exam is a couple of questions and worth around 30-40% of my grade has scared me into starting my studying a bit earlier.  I hope it works!

This past weekend I was super excited to go get out of the city again and head into the Blue Mountains for some exploring. I got up early Saturday morning, got ready and headed to the train station with what I thought was plenty of time.  Well I was wrong because I couldn't find the platform the train was leaving from, so after 15 minutes of running like a mad woman through Central Station I finally found the correct platform and got to watch the train pull away as I arrived.  So I moped back to my apartment through the pouring rain wondering what to do with my day.

Thankfully I had a backup plan, which was to go to the Art Gallery.  Right before I was about to head out though I was invited to another AFL game because my flatmate had an extra ticket.  So my plans changed again and off I went to see Sydney play the Freemantle Dockers (aka Freo). We had awesome seats and since it was the first round of the finals it was a much better game than the first game I saw.  Since the teams were pretty equal the game moved faster and I left more confused about the rules than when I arrived. I really got to experience the true AFL atmosphere with drunk fans screaming profanities all around me.

The view from our Seats.  There were 36,000 people there and ANZ Stadium still looked pretty empty

On Sunday I decided that since I've now become an expert chef (I made something besides pasta for 3 days in a row. 2 of those things were paleo.  I'm on a roll!) that it was safe enough to try my hand at baking.  I decided to make ANZAC biscuits which are a traditional Australian cookie. These biscuits were first made by wives of men in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who sent them to their husbands serving overseas during WWI.  They're super easy and super yum!

Sooooo Good

If you want to try making them yourself then click here for the recipe I used! 

Wednesday it finally stopped raining so I decided to adventure across the harbour to Manly for a little time on the beach.  On my way to the ferry dock I picked up  Strictly Confidential for a little beach reading.

 The book takes place in Sydney so I feel really cool when I know where something is happening in the book.  It reminds me of The Devil Wears Prada so it was a perfect beach read. The author's daughter is probably the cutest thing on instagram currently (Check it out!)

Manly was absolutely beautiful.  It was a perfect day to lay in the sand and I got to test out my new sun hat from Sportsgirl (one of my new favourite Australian stores).  I was jealous of all the surfers out, but the water is still a little cold to go in without a wetsuit. I have gotten to wear shorts twice this week though, so the warmer weather is on its way!

Manly Beach

Selfie with my new hat

Today for a little break from studying I wandered down to the Pitt Street Mall with my flatmates and we made our own Magnum ice cream bars. Magnum has a pop up shop there as a part of their 25th birthday celebration. Watch out Ben and Jerry, these masterpieces may give you a run for your money!

My masterpiece

Thats all for now! I'll try to post regulary during exam week but if I don't then I promise I'll make up for it with exciting posts from my Spring Break (which happens to be the week of my 21st Birthday)! Cheers!

(Also, if anyone wants to send me mail while I'm here just facebook message me for my address! I've sent a few letters to people in the US pretty easily and I love getting mail!)