This post was last updated on 2021 May 16
Welp, I think it’s safe to say that the more distracted I get with weekend trips, road trips, and other adventures, the worse I am about blogging and Instagramming and even reading. So these two months are pretty heavy on the adventure front, and much less so on most everything else.
I spent early May in Melbourne and Victoria, mid May to mid June in Sydney and NSW, and late June in the USA. Here’s what I got up to –
Adventures & Travels:
Melbourne
It had been about a year and a half since my last Melbourne visit and I’ve gotta say, it felt damn good to be back in my old city ODing on all the A+ coffee and street art that I’ve been deprived of in Sydney. There may have been a few pancake binges as well, for which I have no regrets.
In-between all the brunching and street art frolicking, I also met up with App Guy who I last saw over 2 years ago (we dated for a few months, and then I moved to Sydney). We are both in much better places now than we were back then, and it makes me happy that we’re both thriving these days. Reconnecting with him and getting some closure kicked off what ended up being a very healing 1.5 weeks in Victoria. Speaking of healing…
Psychic Healing Session
On the recommendation of a friend, I booked a session with a healer in Melbourne. I’ve been curious about psychics for as long as I can remember, and I felt like I was finally ready to hear what one had to say about me.
To be clear, this wasn’t one of those quack psychics that spits out horoscope-like statements that could apply to anybody. This was a healing session with a psychic medium who allegedly can read my energy and communicate with spirits, gods, etc for the purpose of telling me things I need to hear in order to grow and move forward in my life.
I went into the session with a very open mind and a healthy dose of skepticism. I came out of it with my mind semi-blown.
This person brought up things that have been major themes or focus points in my life, to the point where it couldn’t possibly be coincidental or horoscopical (totally made that word up). Nothing she mentioned was brand new information, but it did validate a lot of things I’d already been thinking and give me new ways of looking at them.
Detailed blog post on my healing session coming soon! (Spoiler alert: I was advised to wear more dresses, start following Tony Robbins, and get a cat)
Victorian High Country Road Trip
So, I booked my flight to Melbourne back in December when a sale was on, thinking I would hike the Great Ocean Walk. About one month before the trip, the excitement still hadn’t hit and I was somewhat dreading hiking in what would almost certainly be predominantly cold and rainy weather.
THEN, I had an a-ha moment in which I thought: why not rent a car and have myself a little road trip around Victoria instead? Once I realized how flippin’ cheap it was to rent a campervan from Jucy (I paid AU$40/day, whaaaaaaat!), I booked one for 5 days and left it til I got there to decide where exactly I’d go.
I wound up driving up the the High Country for some wine tasting, fall foliage ogling, cycling, and hiking and it was absolutely glorious. I rode part of the rail trail around Bright, explored Mt. Buffalo National Park, and randomly discovered some incredible silo art and street art around Benalla. It was the perfect solo road trip and exactly what I needed at the time.
Belmore Falls
Why yes, I will drive two hours to hang out at a majestic waterfall. If you’re in Sydney, Belmore Falls makes for a solid day trip – and there’s plenty more you can add to the trip if you wanted to fill the day with sights and activities.
We mostly just hiked down to the falls and took photos until the good light left us, and that was enough to make me happy.
Fall Foliage in Mt. Wilson
I wussed out of a weekend camping trip because it’s just too damn cold in the Blue Mountains at night this time of year, but I did manage to make it out there for a day to meet my adventure babes for some fall foliage frolicking. We didn’t actually do much of that in the end, but it was still good to catch up with my ladies.
The Spit to Manly Walk
It had been a couple years since I last did this Sydney Harbour walk, and it was oh-so-good to tackle it again on a sunny autumn weekday. In my opinion, this is the best walk in Sydney – if only it didn’t take me nearly 2 hours to get to!
Glowworms in the Old Helensburgh Tunnel
A random half-day trip saw us driving to an abandoned train tunnel south of Sydney to check out the glowworms at night. Once it’s dark, you can trudge through the (muddy) tunnel with what looks like little blue lights surrounding you.
Oh man, this place is SO COOL. I can’t believe it took me this long to check it out! Next time I’m totally bringing my hammock so I can lay horizontal and stare up at the tunnel ceiling in comfort.
Southern Highlands
Another weekend, we rented a car and drove down to the Southern Highlands for what was meant to be a camping and hiking trip. The weather gods had other plans, though, so we made a game time decision to book a hotel in Bowral and instead went wine tasting and explored the Minamurra Rainforest in the rain. It wasn’t quite the weekend we’d hoped for, but I still had fun with my bros.
Sound Healing
My Bondi friends just started hosting monthly sound healing sessions and I couldn’t be more excited and proud of them! They crammed 90 people into a room at the Bondi Pavillion and I got there early to claim a front-row seat (nerd alert!).
If you’ve never been to a sound healing, it goes like this: you lay on your back, eyes closed, for an hour or so while listening to and soaking up the vibrations of various bowls that are being hit or played. It’s incredibly relaxing and feels kind of like getting a massage. This is my favorite splurgey self-care ritual (but actually, if you attend a group session it’s super affordable – maybe like US$30-40).
Cape Cod
My family has been vacationing in Cape Cod every year, always the same week in June, for as long as I can remember. It was always the highlight of my summer when I was growing up. Then I moved to NYC, caught the travel bug, and couldn’t really justify using a week of my limited vacation time to revisit a place I’d been to so many times already.
All that to say, I haven’t spent much time in Cape Cod in years, and so I was pretty psyched when my sister Shannon decided to have her wedding celebration at a beach house there. That was the whole reason this USA trip even happened! And then I was like, wellllllll I’d better make the most of it – so it turned into a week on the Cape, followed by 3 more weeks of American adventures.
I want to write more posts about Cape Cod in the coming months, as it’s a place I’m super familiar with and love dearly. But to be honest, I didn’t actually DO much this time. My sister hosted me for a few days at the house they rented, then my parents welcomed me to their beachfront condo for the rest of the week. I had my accommodation and meals taken care of all week and it felt SO GOOD not to have to worry about anything for once. Thanks, guys!
And really, why would I want to go anywhere else when I’m staying in houses that are literally right on the beach, in the sand? This beach bitch was 100% in her element and happy as a clam (man how funny is this phrase, and how relevant!).
NYC
I always spend a few days in New York when I return home to visit the family. The last two times I happened to be there during a cold freeze and a heat wave – both of which sent me into hibernation mode, where I saw and did hardly anything in the city.
This time, though? The weather was GLORIOUS, in the 70’s and 80’s. It felt so good I found myself almost missing living in NYC (summertime there was always my favorite). I spent a ton of time outdoors, wandering through Central Park and the Upper West Side, and checking out the new Domino Park in Williamsburg. 5 days in NYC was not enough!
Yosemite National Park
At the end of June, my other sister Jamie and I flew to San Francisco to begin our 8 day road trip around northern California. First up: Yosemite, our #1 priority and longtime bucket list item.
And OHHHHH MAHHHHH GAHHHHHH. I’m still not over how incredible this place is. No words. None.
Consider my mind blown.
Top 3 Instagram Posts:
I was a big fat Instagram slacker last month. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the platform, and if I’m being honest… I’m not feeling the love all that much these days. And as a rule, when non-chore things start feeling like a chore to me, I step away.
As soon as I arrived in the US in June I all but forgot to post to Instagram altogether. Between the time difference (when’s the optimal time for me to post when I’m no longer in AEST?) and the lack of wifi/phone reception (wow T-Mobile really sucks), I didn’t feel super motivated to update, like, at all.
Don’t worry though! I have thousands of photos from the motherland that I’m really excited to start going through and sharing, so I suspect I’ll bounce back later this month. I HAVE been quite active on Instagram Stories though, so you can follow along with my American adventures here.
Blog Posts:
Here are the posts I wrote in May & June:
FF Monthly Recap: March & April 2018
How To Enjoy a Cheap Sunday in Sydney
Chasing Silo Art & Street Art in High Country Victoria
The 7 Best Weekend Trips From Melbourne
Highlights From Mt. Buffalo National Park
Reads:
I also slacked off with the reading these last two months and I’m not proud of it. In my defense though, I had downloaded a bunch of new books to read on my month-long USA trip but somehow LOST MY KINDLE somewhere in transit. HOW?!! I am SO not the girl who loses things – I typically know where all of my belongings are at any given time (hooray OCD and minimalism), which is why I’m absolutely baffled as to how I could have managed to lose an electronic device. The only thing I can think of is perhaps it fell out of my tote bag while I had it stashed under the seat on one of my flights?
Either way, I’m resolving to only carry valuable items in bags that can zip up, and I’m going to buy an obnoxiously bright-colored case for my new kindle so that it’s super easy to spot if I leave it anywhere (my old one was navy, would have been very easy to miss had it fallen onto the floor of the plane).
Anyway, the one book I managed to read in the last two months was a good’un:
Warrior Goddess Training – HeatherAsh Amara
I asked around for book recommendations that dealt with masculine vs. feminine (just listening to my healer!), and this was one that several people mentioned. While it wasn’t super focused on that particular topic, this book was absolutely stellar and very useful for any female looking to improve herself and live her best life. There’s an accompanying workbook with journaling prompts to help you work through the topics discussed, which I plan on downloading once I’ve got a new kindle in my life.
Coming up in July & August:
The first half of July will see me finishing up that California road trip in Mammoth and Big Sur, then spending a week in my old soul city San Francisco.
I return to Sydney on July 15, smack in the middle of Aussie winter – lord help me!
