So long Holidays...

So my "holiday" is over and this week was my first week back at nannying. Today was pretty hectic with all 3 kids, since the older two are still on Summer break. I did manage to make some homemade pumpkin soup from scratch and it was AMAZING. I am definitely going to be cooking some of that when I get home! Anyways, let me tell you about my Christmas trip to Byron and my new years....

So I made it to Byron and the first hostel I stayed at "Backpackers Inn on the Beach" was pretty fun, but people there were very "clicky" and it was intimidating and hard to meet people. Lots of people already knew eachother and were traveling in groups, which made it hard to mingle. My first 3 roommates (I was in a room with 3 other girls) were best friends from Sweden. They were nice and I went to the beach with them a couple times, but it was odd when they were speaking Swedish as I silently sat on my bed. Anyways, my first full day in Byron I did a kayak tour that Julie (the mum) booked for me for my "Chrissy" (christmas) gift. It was so sweet!! I saw heaps of sea turtles, manta rays, and fish..it's crazy how clear the water was--oh and the water seemed super warm too! (although there were TONS of blue bottle jellyfish) My kayak partner was one of the kayak tour guides, which was really cool because he would find all the sea animals and caught lots of waves for us to ride. Haha he was pretty goofy and here was his famous joke he told me: "Did you hear about the hippie that drowned out at sea??"  ME: "What!? Oh my gosh a hippie died! That's horrible! I didn't hear about that! How'd it happen?" HIM: "He was too 'far out!" Haha I totally fell for it. Anyways, I'm in love with kayaking. Oh and guess what I got for free for my "morning tea" during the kayak trip?? YEP! TIM TAMS!!!!! 

On Christmas eve I woke up early and walked to the Lighthouse in Byron Bay....it's the most Easterly point of Continental Australia...it was SO beautiful and was a good walk...took me about 45 minutes each way and I had to walk through a little jungle forest to get there. Since Sweden celebrates Christmas on the 24th, my Swedish roomies celebrated Christmas then. So they put up a little palm tree in our room and put presents under it and had a Christmas meal...then that night they were super homesick and bummed out and were all starting to cry...I awkwardly sat on my bed and decided I wasn't going to let them get me down...so what did I do?? Well, I sucked it up and went out by myself!! I had a wristband for a free drink at this place called "Cocomangas" so I walked there from my hostel, got my free drink (it's called a "jam jar" and comes in a sweet jar)...then I sat at a table by myself feeling like a loser haha. Great Christmas eve right?? Don't worry, it gets better....so I'm sitting there, by myself...then I notice a big group of people (about 20 or so) dancing on the dance floor...then they all start to leave and a few of the guys yell something at me, which I ignore...then a couple of them come over to me and ask why I'm sitting by myself... I then explain to them my deal and they invite me to come to their "bar crawl" that they are doing...apparently they signed up for it and had to pay to go to every bar in byron and get a free drink and free entry. So I tagged along and had the best time!! It was too funny because the guys were feeding me compliments left and right, which was really cool for me to hear, since I was completely alone the past couple days....my favorite compliments were, "I hope my next girlfriend looks like you...and that's an understatement!" The next one was one of the guys saying, "wow, she's cute!" and his friend saying, "she's not cute, she's gorgeous!" Haha I don't think I've laughed that hard in awhile...they must have been pretty drunk for saying that! Anyways, I had a nice Christmas surprise and my good friend Shayli drove down to Byron to meet me for my last few days!! The crazy part was she was staying at the same hostel that I was staying my last couple days! I moved to a Hostel called "Nomads" and it was AMAZING!!! It was brand spankin new and was totally modern and looked like a really nice hotel. My roommates at the hostel were 5 other girls...two of them were aussies (Lauren and Emma) and Shayli and I immediately bonded with them and hung out with them the rest of our trip. We went out with them and had the best time! We were so bummed we didn't meet them sooner though. 

Anyways, Byron Bay was so much fun and I really miss it. I would definitely go back if I ever had the opportunity....Oh speaking of traveling...so I booked a ticket to Bali...I leave Feb 15th for about two weeks!! Craziness....

So New Years was unreal. Shayli and I met up with my friend Roxy and a bunch of her friends and we went to a sweet lookout spot where there were lots of families and young people set up to watch the Sydney fireworks. We got there just after 6, which meant we had plenty of time to see both the 9 pm and midnight fireworks. The fireworks were probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a long time....they were so surreal and I still can't believe I was actually THERE! I really had the best time and wish I could relive that night again :) I hope everyone had awesome holidays...for me it just never really felt like Christmas, but that's okay because I am lucky to be here in Aussie land and I will DEFINITELY be home next year for Christmas. I love and miss everyone and I will try to be better about updating this more often...I should get to bed...have to nanny in a few hours!