Greetings from Sydney!

After a grueling 22 hours of travel, I made it to Sydney. Aside from the fact that I got lost in the Sydney airport even though all the signs were in English,  I think I'm navigating Sydney quite well. (As I was writing that sentence 3 different parrots flew onto the table next to me, wow cool.)

My adventures in Australia began perfectly- my new friend Joelle and her friend Simon picked me up from the airport, and then we drove to Simon's home in Paddington where I got to take a hot shower and was fed avocado toast (omg) and espresso. Yesterday I walked around Sydney all day and visited the Australia Museum near Hyde Park, trying to force myself to stay awake until it was evening. I failed, and went back to Simon's to take a nap before dinner. Simon made us the most delicious dinner, complete with wine and Australian beer. It was the perfect end to a wonderful first day. I'm so grateful that I didn't have to spend the first 2 days of this year stressing out about how to find a place to stay in Sydney and getting myself back there from the airport while it was pouring rain. To Joelle and Simon if you read this- you're both amazing and I'm still in shock that you let a complete stranger stay in your home and treated me like family. Thank you x 1,000,000!

I've been walking around the Royal Botanic Gardens this morning, complete with a picturesque view of the Sydney Opera House, and I visited the Art Gallery of NSW when it began pouring rain. I'm currently hanging out in a little cafe to re-caffeinate and plan my next few days before hopefully grabbing a ferry to Watson's Bay, cause I heard it's a great place to walk around and has a nice lighthouse.


(look it's me!) 



This painting below from the NSW Art Gallery is called Dry salvages (after the T.S. Eliot poem) by John Olsen. The description next to the painting says "Dry salvages explores the idea of being immersed in the natural world- an idea which was essential to John Olsen's approach to painting. "....There is the feeling of an abyss, a void between oneself and everything outside, and one has the impulse to bridge it. The thing which I always endeavour to express is an animistic quality- a certain mystical throbbing throughout nature."- Olsen, 1956. 

What a great reminder of what I'm searching for during this year. I guess I'm trying to figure out how to bridge the void between myself and everything outside, just like Olsen. 

(sorry it's tilted whoops)

Alright, I'm off to figure out how the heck I'm going to get to Wangat from Sydney. Working on handling things as they come but it's day 2 and I'm already feeling the anxiety creeping in. Woo! 

-Andi 

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