Believe it or not, I am capable of doing a backflip. Being in a gymnastics facility the last few weeks inspired me to get a little bit more acrobatic. After a grueling 14 minutes of Dmitri's soviet circuit we were allowed to just mess around. One kid in our group is a very agile guy and does all sorts of tumbling and flips just for fun. He was showing me how to do a backflip on the trampoline and after psyching myself up, i chickened out on my first attempt, curling into the ball in the air and just falling awkwardly. The next progression was to do it on the ground with two spotters. First attempt went well enough, second attempt not so great. At this point, Dmitri saw me and decided to put the harness on me. I was strapped to a rope hanging on the ceiling and told to jump, reach back, kick the knees and keep bouncing when i land. Easy enough! After committing to unknown, i accomplished multiple backflips on the trampoline! Something I never thought i'd do. While I don't plan on trying to take my skills to a gymnastics career, i'm happy enough to say I tried something new and actually did a flip!
Yesterday was one of our most eventful and best days in Sydney. We woke up early (my roommate and I almost missing the bus) and drove two hours to the Blue Mountains. We stopped along the way to do the sterotypical tourist thing and petted kangaroos and koalas. It was awesome. I know that it's so cheesy and touristy to do but it is so worth it. Now I feel like i'm permitted to say i've been to Australia. They should almost have the little fuzzy guys at the airport for when you get off the plane. After the animal park, we went to the mountains which are comparable to the grandcanyon with a 100 million year head start. Everything is heavily forested but the same concept. We took a 1000 step staircase down to a lower path and got to see the Three Sisters (famous rock formation) on the way. We then hiked a good 3 km to a beautiful waterfall and then took the world's steepest rail car back to the top. Terrifying! I don't do well with steep. This was steeeep.
The night was concluded by dressing up and going to the opera house! We got to see the Sydney symphony orchestra perform Romeo and Juliet. Our seats were two rows behind the french horns and were unbelievable. What a performance! They had a world renowned solo violinist and the young American conductor was a treat. It was probably my favorite experience of the whole trip so far. I can't seem to describe it any other way!
Sadly the wine tasting tour was cancelled due to budge cuts and lots of drama among the group. Instead of heading to the Hunter Valley and tasting some of the world's best wines, I spent the day walking the city markets and just exploring. It was a very good day, as so many have been during my time here in Australia. There are plenty of pictures to come now that my camera is recharged. I'm looking forward to sharing even more of this experience. I only have one more week left in this city (unfortunately busied with some final exams) but I plan on making the absolute most of it. I continuously remind myself that i'm only on the other side of the world for a little bit longer... better make the most of it. G'day!
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