Moments of wonderful are better than a lifetime of nothing special

These past couple days have been fun filled and relaxing. Friday I do not have class so I got up and had breakfast and took a nice walk with Olivia up to North Head. It is so awesome up there and although I have been up there so many times and have numerous pictures of it nothing can compare to just standing there and taking in the incredible view. That view has to be one of my favorite places in Manly. After showering, eating some fish and chips for lunch, we packed up and headed down to Manly Beach for the day. It was a great sunny and beautiful day. Kaleigh, Steph, Olivia and I had a nice relaxing couples hours in the sun and swimming in the ocean. I took a nice little nap at one point and also had a chance to read some of my book. We then walked around the Corso and some stores for a little while and I purchased some souvenirs for my family. We decided as a group after Steph had looked at the dinner menu at ICMS, that our best bet was to eat something in Manly. There is a great little local pizza place called La Casa, that reminded me of Albion :) so we ordered some pizza and headed over to the small beach area by the Manly wharf and had a picnic. It was such a great time and so much fun to just sit and chat with some friends and eat yummy pizza. After dinner we got some ice cream walked around Manly for a little while and walked by the beach before heading back up the hill to school. At the beach we spotted a man in a speedo doing some kind of karate/kung fu fighting dancing skill workout, we stopped and watched for a little bit and found ourselves quite entertained by his talent and his passion for what he was doing. It just completely added to the already pleasant and successful day. If you can you should check out the video that I have posted on my facebook page, I tried to add it here but it was not working, to say the least he was quite entertaining :)

Today was yet again a beautiful day here in Manly. It was 80's and sunny almost all day. After a walk this morning and some brunch, Heather and I packed up for the beach. We headed down to Manly Beach to find it, like most Saturdays packed full of people all across the beach. With people of all ages laying out, playing games, swimming, surfing, and so much more, Manly is an extremely popular place for locals and tourists especially on the weekends. Heather and I found a nice spot, sat down and just appreciated where we were. We talked for a while and just took in our surroundings and had a nice time people watching and observing the diversity of Manly Beach. Yet again, took a little nap, listened to some music and met up with Olivia and Laura at some point during the day. After laying out for a little while Heather and I were quite warm and ready for a swim. We got about waist deep into the water before the lifeguard and surf rescue staff was running up and down the beach whistling and yelling at people to get out of the water. There had been a shark siting and everyone needed to get out of the water immediately. We were in pretty shallow water and I was not scared of the shark but the whole experience was pretty intense, thrilling, and a little exciting. They called in the surf rescue helicopter along with a boat to search the area and check on people to make sure everyone was ok. We had to wait a good twenty or thirty minutes and then they were considering letting us go back in, and then the shark was spotted again. They sound off a siren and make an announcement on the p.a. when the shark is sited and it startled many people on the beach. About an hour after the first siting people were allowed back in the water but the staff was continually patrolling the beach, water, and air as we left later in the day. It was an exciting experience and also very comforting to know that they take it very seriously and do everything they can to keep the people at Manly Beach safe.

After the eventful afternoon at the beach, we kept up the excitement into our evening. Heather, Jessie, Olivia, Laura, Ashley, Steph, Ashley, and I went out to dinner at the 4 Pines Brewing Company and had a great time. It was a really awesome girls night out filled with talking and some shared stories. We ordered some pasta and burgers and each tried some of the local beer. I had some of their specialty cider which was very delicious. Overall, the past two days have just been very relaxing and I have had so much fun hanging out with my awesome new friends here in Australia. I am so thankful for this experience and am grateful that I am spending my time abroad in such a spectacular place like Manly :) Up early tomorrow and off to the Blue Mountains all day, so excited and I am sure will have more to say about that soon.