Sandbar!

Cellito Beach @ Sandbar

What a great weekend....very relaxing....and very fun :)

I went away this weekend with my host-parents to a place called Sandbar. It is a campground about an hour and a half north of Newcastle, and it is a gem. Such a hidden treasure. At Sandbar my host-parents own a "Van", a caravan, that they keep there for holidays. The campground wasn't very crowded, so at times this weekend we had the entire beach to ourselves. The beach at Sandbar is really spectacular. You have to walk along a boardwalk to get to the beach, but the boardwalk goes right through a little rainforest. Then all of a sudden the beach appears right before your eyes, the scene is enough to take your breath away. It is beautiful.

Bike Path to the Beach

Did some paddle-boarding, and played a round of golf on Saturday! It was great fun and some Wallabies even joined us. Gorgeous sunset Saturday evening and a delicious seafood dinner cooked over the campfire.

This morning I woke up early and took a bike-ride down to the beach and there were tons of dolphins in the water! I tried getting some photos, but they were too quick. Today was a spectacular day on the beach, very warm and sunny.

Now its time for the next adventure! Byron Bay on Tuesday! Can't wait :)

Sweet, Sweet Summertime

Summer. Summer. Summer....... in December!

Over the past few days, the summer heat has finally reached Newcastle. It's such a bizarre concept for me right now - it being December and all. But today when I woke up, I just felt it. I felt the summer breeze... I could hear the lawn mowers in the distance... and I could smell that distinct "summer" smell. And I also went for a swim this morning, so it really felt like summer. Anyway, my point of all of this is, the distinct "summer" smell. It is so hard to explain, but I bet you all know what I am talking about :) At breakfast this morning, I was telling my host-mom that that "summer" smell is completely universal. When I woke up this morning, if I closed my eyes, I could have been in Sea Isle getting ready for a day at 32nd street beach and a night out at the Dead Dog or the OD...it really is a magical thing.

When I talked to Alex today, he had his winter North Face on and I commented that I hadn't seen that coat in awhile... and all he could say was, "It's cold here."

So as eager as I am to get back to the States for the holidays...I am not keen on leaving this beautiful weather....Cheers to summer in Australia for 8 more days :)

And I also have some very exciting news!!! I have completely finished all of my assignments for my Education degree from Penn State. All of my paperwork is complete, the needed observations from Australia have been e-mailed back to the States as of today, and my final portfolio was submitted yesterday!!!

So my host-parents took me out to dinner and we had a nice bottle of champagne to celebrate.

It's definitely a strange feeling to be finished, but I am excited to begin the next step in my career... We'll see what the future has to offer!

I'm heading to my host-family's holiday house this weekend! I'll be back in Newcastle on Sunday Night - pictures to come!

Until then,

Much love!

-Abby

Sunday Funday :)

What a nice day! Today, my host family took me to a place called Port Stephens, Australia's "Blue Water Paradise". It's a beautiful area about 45 minutes from Newcastle. We spent our morning at Fingal Bay, caught a little surf and had a paddle on the paddle board! Then we went over to Shoal Bay and had a delicious picnic lunch of fish and chips.

Shoal Bay

After lunch we drove to Birubi Beach to go 4WD on the beach - it was a lot of fun. The sand dunes are enormous! We tried a little sand surfing on various objects, the most successful was a skateboard with no wheels. It was pretty funny attempting to surf down the dunes - I ended up just sitting on the skateboard and pushing myself down. But, all in all it was totally fun and it reminded me of some pretty awesome times in the Gravel Pit up in New Hampshire :)

Here are some photos from today! I edited them a bit, hope you like them!

It's hard to believe I'm starting my last full week of school tomorrow... the time really has flown by. This trip has honestly been nothing short of incredible.

Until next time!

-Abby

Happy Summer .... Australia!

Well, here it is! The official start to Australia's summer: December 1st.

Sure didn't feel like summer today. The forecast was rain with a side of downpours all day. But I guess I can't complain too much, I still went to work in my thongs (sandals). It's funny how Australian's call flip-flops and sandals thongs, although it does make sense considering what we all know as thongs in the U.S... But I'll never forget the first time I heard a student say "Miss Rzepnicki, I love your thongs!" My face turned about 8-shades of red, until I realized they were looking down at my sandals. Oops.

And on a similar note, Happy December too! I can't believe it is already December. Christmastime is upon us and my birthday will follow very shortly after! Love, love December :) I have to admit, it is a little bittersweet gearing up for the holidays with my class here in Australia, because it is such a fun time at home, too. There is nothing quite like the feel of Christmas at home. But! The nice thing about all of my Christmas shopping this year, will be all of the unique Australian-inspired gifts! I plan to win the Rzepnicki-pollyanna gift-wrapping contest this year, hands down.

I'll leave you with this today;

"Remember
This December,
That love weighs more than gold."
-Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

Sending my love and warmest wishes to everyone back home!

-Abby

Australian Music 101

A rainy night in Merewether turned into my first lesson on Australian music culture last night...My host-mom, dad, and I sat around, drinking wine, making pizza, and listening to all of their old CDs. They wanted to expose me to what Australia had to offer in terms of musicians and bands... and it is truly amazing how universal music tends to be. Sure, there are unique individuals with musical talent that is unlike anyone else - but my host-parents' taste in music reminded me of my own parents'; the music had a very Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2 feel to all of it. Long-lasting rhythms with great acoustics and everything.

I particularly enjoyed a band called Powderfinger; they reminded me a lot of KGB :)

A few other bands I was introduced to and really enjoyed were: Midnight Oil, Crowded House, and Paul Kelly

Australia has its variety of popular rock and pop music, and just like the U.S. there is a large trendy movement of Indie Rock. I learned a lot about Australia's Indigenous music, which refers to the music of the Aborigines and I was blown away by this particular artist, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. He is a blind singer and is considered to be Australia's most gifted indigenous musician. And I also heard variations of Australian Country music, which tells stories about the bush lands and different folklore. So all in all it was a really enjoyable evening and it was fun to sit back and listen to all different sorts of music.

And to all my Missy Higgins fans out there - did you know she is an Australian musician?! Because I had no idea!

But, of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without a little Men at Work - a classic. Spent a few nights out at the pub rocking out to this song with the ladies ;)

Enjoy!

Love,

Abby

A first time for everything.

This blog is a long time coming. I wanted to start one awhile ago, before I even began my journey to Australia and even though my time here is more than halfway over, I thought starting one now is better than not starting one at all :)

As most of you can tell by my pictures posted on Facebook - my time here has been nothing short of incredible. I've lived my weeks to the fullest and have challenged myself in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

I have fallen in love with this country in so many ways. It is one of those places that captures your heart and resonates some place deep in your bones. There is beauty everywhere you look.

As my weeks come to an end here, these blog posts will fall into somewhat of a reflective category as I process my thoughts and feelings about my entire experience here. But I do have a lot of really great things planned for the upcoming weeks and I am excited to share my journey with everyone as I continue with the blog.

I thank you in advance for reading and I hope to keep things as entertaining as possible :) If not entertaining at least there will be nice pictures to look at - once I figure all of that out ;)

Until then,

Cheers!

-Abby