The Notre Dame Experience

There are only five students studying abroad at the University of Notre Dame this semester

FIVE! At the entire university, just five of us

The fab five

Our advisors over here are so helpful and great 

They have taken us on four field trips to help us more fully experience Sydney

First Field Trip

Only two of the fab five went on the first excursion

We went to the Sydney Tower Eye and did the Skywalk

we were 880 feet above the ground walking around outside the tower

it was double the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

so so so high

the floor of the skywalk is a glass bottom so when you look down you just see the long way down

even when you aren't looking over the edge 

but the views up there were incredible!

you could see the harbour, the bridge, the entire city and the whole surrounding area

After the Sydney Tower Eye we went on a Tribal Warrior boat ride 

It was run by local aboriginal people who told us the history of their people

The boat stopped at a historic aboriginal island 

The guy put on his warrior paint, tribal outfit and hair braids 

he showed us around the island and did a traditional tribal welcome dance/chant

It was such an interesting experience and his chant was so cool! 

 

Second Field Trip

Three of the fab five came on the second excursion- a better turnout than the first 

This time we got closer to the nature and beauty of the land

we did a bushwalk from Spit to Manly Beach 

It was so beautiful  

It rained during most of the walk 

but cleared up and turned into a beautiful day just as we reached Manly 

We sat outside for a nice lunch at the beach before catching the ferry back into the city.

I would have never heard of the Spit to Manly bushwalk if it weren't for my advisors

Notre Dame excursions are such a blessing! 

 Third Field Trip

For the third excursion we were back to only two of the fab five

We got tickets to the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour

The museum was featuring Ansel Adams

He is a famous photographer who I studied when I took photo courses in high school

There was also a Viking exhibit, I didn't know much about vikings so I learned a lot!

Our tickets included access to two boats and a submarine

The submarine was so cool to explore and it was a beautiful day for the boats!

Fourth Field Trip

I was so excited for the fab five to be together and explore Hunter Valley for the fourth excursion

Only three of us ended up going but it was the best field trip by far

We took a bus two and a half hours out to the wine country

We visited four wineries for wine tastings at each one

I learned a lot about wine 

for example: how they get different flavors into the wines, the difference between dry and sweet, 

how to make sparkling wine and thinker desert wines

I learned what I do and don't like regarding wine

I do like bubbly, sparkling, sweet, light, white and pink wines

I also like desert wines, but only in small doses because they are super sweet

I do not like dry and most red wines

We also stopped in a smelly cheese shop, which was indeed extremely smelly

They had amazing flavored oils & vinegars though

I love vinegar!

I brought home lime olive oil and guava vinegar, they are so good on my salads

I found some really nice wines to bring home for the holidays

I can't wait to share them! 

Thank you Notre Dame for giving the five of us study abroad students some amazing experiences!