Possums, Penguins and Parrots

I've been a bit preoccupied with life lately and thoroughly enjoying my time in Australia. As a result, this post has been a long time coming. A few of the highlights of the past couple of weeks include another night spent at the Luna1878 night market, an australian gig and a trip with friends to Phillip Island.

Luna1878 Market!

As always, the night market certainly did not disappoint. Of course, pierogies were again my meal of choice. They are just so amazing, I am salivating right now just thinking of them. I may be a bit obsessed, but it's okay!! I went with a group of my Aussie friends and a fellow NYU student and we saw a one man band and got stopped by a strange looking clown. He did an awesome string trick and then he wanted me to help him, but I ran behind my friends because he was scary! In the end, he got me to throw a sword at him to juggle. It was good fun. The live music was pretty decent, too - sounded a bit folky. We then saw a guy playing with fire and headed out. Probably the most entertaining night at the market. It was a lot if fun!! Markets, no matter the country they're in, are always fun :)

Live Music!

The following Friday, my friend Zac invited me to go with him to a gig. We saw Lincoln le Fevre & the Insiders , Ceres and Jamie Hay at the Curtin. It was a lot of fun listening to Australian music and being in that type of environment. I'm happy that I went and experienced some of the music scene here in Melbourne. After the show, we walked through a park and I saw my first australian possums! They are actually super cute!!

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Weekend Getaway!!!

The next weekend, I went on a trip to Phillip Island with 7 others. We rented a private beach house. It was a nice break from Melbourne and the city, although I do wish we could've stayed longer. We spent a lot of time down on the beach. We went for walks, played catch, played soccer and a couple of guys brought a guitar and mandolin. The weather was PERFECT for being the first couple days of spring! I even went into the ocean. It was a bit chilly though. On Saturday night we went down to see the Fairy Penguins, also known as little penguins. They we TINY but so cute!!! It was so awesome seeing them wash up on the shore then waddle through the rocks to get to their burrows. We also saw a kangaroo up on the hill while we we watching the penguins - my first kangaroo sighting! Overall, It was just an amazing weekend spent with amazing people. Definitely one of the highlights of my time here so far.

Colorful!

While going for a run in the park a few weekends ago, I noticed there are TONS of wild parrots in Melbourne. They're noisy, but beautiful. I knew there were parrots here, but I didn't actually see them until then. They drove the dogs in the park nuts - they stopped at the bottom of the tree and kept barking at them. I've seen quite a few more since then - they seem to be out closer to dusk, it's interesting!

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I'm falling more and more in love with Australia every day and this has been one of the best decisions of my life deciding to come here. I can't complain about a single thing, this place is awesome.