Kangas, Koalas and Dingos... oh my!

Two weeks ago all of the exchange students took a trip to the Blue Mountains, which is a pretty scenic area outside of Sydney. On our way there we stopped at the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we got to see and even pet all sorts of Aussie animals, including kangaroos, koalas, wallabies and dingos. My favorite was the dingos even though they reminded me of my crazy dog back home.

After cuddling with some iconic Australian animals, we hopped back on our bus to head towards the Wentworth Falls. Our intended hike was a little modified because one of the trails was closed. Regardless we were able to see a few waterfalls and some beautiful scenic outlooks. After about 2 hours of hiking we headed to our hostel for the night. For dinner we went to a local restaurant and got to try various types of pizzas, including crocodile and kangaroo meat.

Bright and early the next morning we embarked for the Giant Staircase hike, which consisted of nearly 900 very steep steps down the mountain. We also got to see views of the Three Sisters on our hike that ended at the bottom of the mountain to take the "train" back up, which is the worlds steepest railway at 

a 52 degree incline. 

The rest of the afternoon we stopped at a few more lookouts and eventually stopped at a park for a classic aussie BBQ of snags (sausages) and chicken. Then we headed back towards Canberra to conclude our trip. Before arriving at UC we made a pit stop at the Mount Ainslie lookout to get a view of Canberra at night. I was surprised to see how big Canberra actually is since I regrettably have not explored the majority of the city outside our area.

It was a great trip and our group of exchange students always have a good time. The highlight was definitely feeding all the little wallabies and kangaroos. Kangaroos are wild in the meadows by our campus but I had never been able to get close to one. One thing is for sure, the kangaroo pouches are nothing like how they depict them in cartoons... look it up on Google if you are curious. 

Now I will leave you with some Aussie holidays that are widely celebrated here, since we just had Anzac day:

Australia Day- Jan 26 (we missed this one by 2 days!)

Canberra Day- Mar 12

Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday- April 6-9 (all schools are closed for this long weekend)

Anzac Day- April 25 (a day to honor the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps)

Queen's Birthday- June 11 (I will be home by this time)