It’s summer time in Melbourne, and the weather is finally nice (No rain, yay!) Not only is Melbourne a wonderful place to be, considering Massachusetts is experiencing sub-zero temperatures (Sorry guys!), BUT, there is also the tennis! Yes, the Australian Open is taking place in Melbourne at the moment, and I was most fortunate to be able to attend.  It was a great experience, and not what I initially expected. Turns out in the last couple years the Australian Open has become more of a “must-attend’ event, similar to Melbourne’s famous horse races, The Melbourne Cup. I previously believed that I would be sitting for hours on end watching the tennis, but to my surprise, was greeted with tons of sponsor tents with activities and free stuff, and college-aged students anxious to be apart of the scene (some were even dressed up in funny costumes). Turns out, a ton of Uni kids enjoy going to the tennis and spending the day with friends.  So, like my peers, I purchased a grounds pass and enjoyed the beautiful weather, and what seemed like endless amount of tennis courts. After a long day of perusing sponsor tents for free samples, and watching a few games in the minor courts with friends, I was lucky enough to gain admission to Hisense Arena, one of the major courts at the tennis, where I got to watch Maria Sharapova play! It was awesome! Firstly, because I actually have heard of her (I don’t normally follow tennis), and secondly, she played quite well! Since then I have been regularly watching the tennis with housemates, and demonstrating my “knowledge” of the game. I’m no expert, but I’m learning!

Hisense Arena

Maria Sharapova

wine glass bay

cradle mountain

Hello All! I just got back from Tasmania and had heaps of fun! In my last post, I briefly touched upon the famous Falls Festival, but that was just the beginning of my vacation in Tassie. While in Australia’s “deep south”, I went to Cradle Mountain, Wine Glass Bay, The Raspberry Farm, Batman Bridge and many more places. Cradle Mountain was great fun to hike (and quite the workout), but Wine Glass Bay was hands down my favorite; due to  stunning views  of cerulean blue waters cupped by the white sand from which the bay gets its name. Once I finished scaling mountains, and basking on the beach, my friend and I checked out the Tassie wildlife at a local sanctuary. Whilst there, we saw Tasmanian devils up close and personal, and even got to feed the wallabies! Unfortunately, Tasmania like many of life’s amazing things, had to come to an end, but at least I left with some incredible memories.