‘Straya

YOOOOOOOO. So I’ve been MIA for a bit (sorry, life happened) but while I was away, I went on the trip of a lifetime.

Two of my best friends from college now live in this amazingly amazing town in Australia called Manly Beach. And guys, this place is AMAZING. Everyone is so chill and so nice. And it’s just beachy and relaxing and great. I am in the process of making a recap video, but there’s a lot of footage to get through so it’s going to take me a minute…But in the mean time, I decided to highlight five of my favorite moments and/or places from my trip in Oz. Let’s dive in!

1. A Morning walk to the beach.

Sunday morning we walked to Shelley beach for a coffee and a swim. To any local, it was a normal morning but to me it was friggin magical. I mean, who doesn’t want to start their week with a dip in the ocean and a warm drink?!

2. A ferry ride

One evening for dinner, we took the ferry from Manly to Sydney. My friend Kiera took us to this amazing little underground (literally) dumpling house. It’s called Uncle Mings and it was delish. Not only were the dumplings amazing, but the drinks and cocktails were unreal. They had a drink with apple juice in it and they literally made the apple juice AT THE BAR. But the best part of that night was sitting on the ferry, outside on a bench, going past the opera hall and laughing my head off with my friends.

3. Exploring

I had a Friday afternoon to myself and decided to take a long walk to a little place called Collins beach. It was a gorgeous walk and led me to a basically empty beach that was just stunning. It was so secluded and everything was so lush and it was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon.

The next day, I went on a run back to Shelley beach and explored the trail and cliffs above the beach. Everything looked like a fairy forest and there was just beautiful views and ocean as far as the eye could see.

4. Sunrise/Sunset

One of my favorite things about Manly is that you can watch the sunrise on the beach side and the sunset on the warf side. In the morning, between Manly Beach and Freshwater beach, there is a set of cliffs that is awesome for sunrise watching. It’s a beautiful walk along the beach to these cliffs and it’s a great view point. In the evening, everyone sits at a park on the warf side and drinks beer and has picnics and watches the sunset. It is the the perfect picture of summer and I’ll miss it everyday.

5. Drinks at the Icebergs in Bondi

On my last full day in the land down under, we went to Bondi Beach. We caught a bus from the harbor in Sydney and took a 30-40 minute ride through Sydney to Bondi. There’s a pool off the beach with a club house so we went to the club house, ordered a Pimms cocktail and watched the waves. After spending some time on the beach, we walked around looking at the murals and artwork and it was a perfect way to spend the day.