It's good to be back ... okay my last post was last Friday, but I only told you about this minor event in Australia that is Australia Day !
In fact I stopped before going to my first bush-walk in Sydney, it was like 10 days ago, and yes, as the title says it pretty accurately, it's been a month since I arrived in Australia !
What an adventure, I definitely encourage you to do it, this experience is great, and that is only the beginning for me !
The bush-walks then. Well, I only did two bush-walks, and easy ones ! These are good for socializing and to enjoy good little walks, and if what you are after is exercising you should go to the hard ones.
The first one lasted 3 hours, I crossed by foot for the first time the famous Sydney Harbour bridge, then walked next to Luna Park and kept going further up north.
The second one lasted 2 hours, we went through the Centennial Park which is quite big (189 hectares). There was an outdoor cinema with a big screen, and the seats looked quite comfortable !
After the walk we ate at a restaurant in Bondi Junction.
Next to Manly beach there is another little one, protected from the waves thanks to a cliff called Shelly Beach. I might post a picture of it someday, but I don't really like this one, the grains of sand are too big, so it makes it not comfortable to lay on or to walk on ... I know I'm starting to have high standards in term of beach quality !
On the way to the beach you can see the little Australian Water Dragons, and of course there is a fine if you're seen trying to touch them !
Here have a nice picture of a located rain over Freshwater Beach up north. (or somewhere around that point).
You should be cautious when you walk under palm trees, because if you're not, you might receive one of their branch on your head ... Yeah, this happened to me when I was walking back from Shelly beach, and no, that's not the reason I don't really like this beach !
What's next ? Let's talk about roller-blades ! As you might know, I like rollerblading when I have the motivation to go out. And since I'm in Australia, I have this kind of motivation all the time, which is good !
I should receive mines this week if everything goes right. I've heard of a weekly meeting for roller-blades on Wednesday evenings. There is in fact a Facebook group for it, that I've joined. So more about it later !
You might also have seen this post on Facebook with a picture of me holding something taller than me, and blue. Yes, I finally bought a surfboard. Well, to be accurate you would call it a soft-board but it's a detail ! it is 8 feet tall, so around 2,44 meters.
This kind of surfboard is perfect to start surfing, because you can catch the waves more easily, the ones in plastic are cheap and resistant. I got it from a surfing school selling new boards on gumtree, the Australian leboncoin.fr. It was $179 for the 8 ft board, the leash, and some wax. It's hard to find deals this good !
I went to try my board the day I bought it with Chris, my flatmate, who surfs since a long time ago. There were big waves, and a lot of them, so it wasn't easy at all to get away from the shore, and very exhausting ! When a big wave arrives, you can't get under it with this board, so you have to turn with the board so you get under it, and when the waves passed you, get back on it to start paddling again.
Once you're far enough from the shore, the water is quieter, and you have less waves coming in your face, so you can sit on the board waiting for a big one. When a big enough arrives, you turn your board toward the shore, and paddle to gain speed, so you can get on the wave.
Well, for me it was more like I was completely thrown out by the waves. They were too big for me at my current level. After some trials, I was out of energy, so I was going back to the shore, and actually the little waves when nearing the shore are way better for me to learn how to stand and keep the balance.
That's how I could for the first time stand on the board ! Only 4 seconds, alright, it's not a lot but that's a start !
I will keep practicing and tell about my progression !
I went to a place called the Japan Foundation this Monday. A Japanese friend told me about it last Friday at a Japanese meetup group.
Basically, it's a library with Japanese books, so you can borrow them for free and practice your Japanese.
There is one last major thing I want to tell you that happened in Australia. I got the job at Vero, and if the 2 month trial period goes well, they will sponsor me with the work visa 457.
That means that those holidays are almost over, but that I moving forward toward my goal that is to live in Australia. The more time I spend here, the more I am persuaded that I did the right choice to come here !
Alright, take care folks, and remember to live your life to its fullest !
No comments:
Post a Comment