Skydiving

I wrote that Lisa and I were going to do a big thing and that big thing was...skydiving! We did it very spontaneously, we were like: "I wanna go skydiving!" "Me too!" Then we booked it and the next day we did it. For me it was like an early birthday present for myself as I'm turning 21 on Monday.

People have asked me how I got the courage to do it and the answer to that is.. I don't know, I just did it. I didn't have that much time to get nervous anyway. Skydiving has always been one of the things on my to-do-list-before-I-die. Afterwards I can hardly believe that I did it. Was it really me, Emma, who jumped out of that plane?

We jumped over a beach outside of Sydney, the view was so beautiful. It was a little bit scary to jump out of the plane, but the free falling was extremely fun and cool! I must say that I thought it would be more scary than it was. It felt like I was flying, like I was Superman or something. I could totally do it again. It's difficult to explain the feeling, you have to do it to find out what it's like. To everyone out there: If you ever get the chance to skydive, do it!

Of course I have to post lots of pictures, enjoy!

Hardrock Café and Blue Mountains

There's so much going on right now. Two days ago I went to Darling Harbour to visit Hardrock café. I ate a delicious brownie and drank a beer there. Good combination, right? I also found some Green Day stuff, yay! That day I felt a bit down, because I had just found out about Soundwave festival. I really wanted to go, but all tickets were sold out.

Yesterday I went to the Blue mountains with Lisa. It was so beautiful there, impressive landscape. I've never seen anything like that before. We walked around the mountains all day and I wore a dress, not the smartest thing to wear. When we were on our way to see a waterfall I slipped down in the mud. You should have seen my converse after that, it's a miracle that they're still alive. It was funny, cause things like that always happen to me. People who know me know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, Lisa and I had a great day, we took many pictures and ate awesome ice cream. Tomorrow we're going to do something really big, but I won't tell you about it yet. You'll just have to wait and see. I can't believe that we're actually going to do it.

Back in Sydney

We came back from Surf Camp yesterday.  It was a very nice and funny experience, but after 5 days intensive surfing you’re quite exhausted. To learn how to surf was one of the things I had on my to-do-list when I went to Australia. Now that mission is complete.

On our last lesson we had a competition, we were in teams where everyone came from the same country. Everyone in the team had to paddle out into the water and manage to stand up on a wave. The team that finished first won. And guess who the winners were? Team Sweden of course!

I went out yesterday night with some girls I met at Surf Camp. We went to Scubar. The nightlife in Sydney is different from the nightlife in Sweden, it’s so much more people and noise everywhere. I like it. Australian beer is pretty good too.

Today I haven’t done much actually. I felt like I needed a rest. I’ve been walking around in the city, looking in shops and sitting at an internet café. It’s raining, so you don’t feel like going to the beach or something. I’ve gotten new roommates again, this time from Germany and Belgium. You meet lots of people all the time when you’re a backpacker.

I’ve just cooked food all by myself! Usually I never cook anything and if I do I cook noodles. I cooked Spaghetti Bolognese, it tasted good, but you should have seen me in the kitchen. When I should open the pasta package I used too much power, so the pasta ended up all over the kitchen. Am I too strong or just clumsy? You decide.

My plan right now is to stay in Sydney for a few more days. I’ve got a few things I want to do before I leave this city. Then we’ll see where I end up, I’ve not decided that yet. 

Surf Camp

Since the last time I wrote we've been to Bondi beach and then we went to Surf Camp.

I'm at Surf Camp right now and have been here for three days. It's a nice place, there are people from all over the world here and we're having fun. I'm sharing a room with girls from Denmark and England. Surf Camp takes place in a little village called Gerroa, 2 hours outside of Sydney. It's amazingly beautiful here, I'll show you some pictures. Too bad that my camera can't show you how beautiful it is in reality.

Surfing is a bit more difficult than you may think, learning to surf is like learning how to ride a bike. At least I'm developing, now I can manage to stand on the board some times when there comes a wave. Today we saw wild dolphins when we had our first surfing lesson, it was really cool even though they didn't come close.

Yesterday night was awesome, me and some Danish people sat outside with a guitar. We played and sang lots of songs together. That's what I call life.

Second day in Sydney

Now I've been in Sydney since thursday night and done lots of things already. The flight took about 22 hours and the whole travel about 30 hours, longest journey ever. I'm glad that I survived. We switched planes in London and Hong Kong, so now I've been in Asia for the first time too. If it counts to have been at an airport.

I'm starting to feel like I'm at home here in Sydney. I'm sharing a hostel room with 5 other people who are going to work and travel like me. They're nice and it feels good to be here. Still it feels quite unreal to be in Australia, like it's just a dream. The weather could have been better, it's been rainy and cloudy every day we've been here more or less. At least it's pretty hot, so I won't complain.

Yesterday we had an information meeting at the travel agency about both serious and funny stuff. A guy was there and talked about a surfing course called surf camp which starts next week. You go to a place outside of Sydney to stay there for 5 days and learn to surf with 70 other people. It seemed really fun so I booked the course. I've only windsurfed before, it will be interesting to see what it's like to surf.

Yesterday night I went out to party with my roommates. We had a nice pre-party and then we went to a nightclub at our hostel. I ended up on my first nightlife picture in Australia.

Today we've been to the opera house and taken some pictures. Impressive building, it was fun to see it in reality. There are many tall buildings here in Sydney, I think this city is like a mix of London, New York and Asia.

Every long journey begins with a small step

The quote in the headline might sound like a cliché, but it's actually true. Right now I have a few hours left until my departure, I'm starting to feel really nervous and excited at the same time. I've never done a journey like this before. Australia is about as far from Sweden you can possibly get and I'm going to be there for several months. Last but not least, I'm going there alone. Not practically alone, I'm going with a group of people who are travelling with the same agency, but without anyone I know. Scary? Maybe a little bit. Exciting? Definitely!

My friends have asked me, Why Australia? So I thought I should write some lines about why I decided to go there. I've always liked to travel, but I've never travelled properly. I've been to different countries in Europe, most of the holidays have included swimming and sunbathing for a week and nothing more. It's boring to just be a tourist, I felt like I wanted to explore something.

Australia has been my dream destination since I was 14 and had to write an essay about a country in school. I found Australia interesting because the country seemed to have everything. Beautiful landscapes, uncommon animals and big cities. It's a country full of contrasts and I like contrasts.

Last autumn I started to study English at the university and two of my course mates had been to Australia. Both of them had a really good time there and had done bungee jumping while they were there. I was like: "I also want to go to Australia and do bungee jumping!" One month later I booked the travel. 

So, here I am, and now there's no turning back. I'm glad that I followed this dream at last. I mean, you never know when you get the chance again.