Not to bore you too much, but I thought it might be fun to see a few of the images we photographers take of ourselves when we’re not shooting opera house rooftops and harbor bridges. :-)

And incase you missed the brief on this Australia trip, I went alone for the first half and then met up with my sweet boyfriend for the second half and watched him receive his master’s degree.

Lastly, I must put a disclaimer on this post:  many of the images you see below were taken with the sweet iPhone 4s.  So don’t judge. :-*

G’day,
René

After some fun on Bondi Beach, I headed into the city.  Loved the wild life center with Australia-native animals.

This image was a big victory.  I have a real bird phobia.  This was not on the zoom!

If I was any animal, I’d probably be one of these Roos.  They’re always in a yoga pose.
Why would you want to be anything else? :-)

Loved the Australian favorites at Starbucks.  I had a Aussie meat pie and a long black.  What’s a long black you ask?  Let me just tell you.  You should know by now my drink of choice is an Americano – I talk about it all the time.  And it really drives me crazy when us Americans prepare Americanos all wrong.  The espresso is supposed to go in last – on top.  The Aussie’s do it right.  They call the drink a long black and add the water on top.   Heaven.

Caught me some sweet sunrise on the harbor and took some crazy self-portraits.
I obviously hadn’t met up with John yet. :-)

After a morning at the Opera House, I headed to Manly Beach.  I picked up a book from a used bookstore in Manly and sat right on that beach, directly in front of this amazing cheese and wine restaurant.  This was also heavenly.

That evening after my wine, cheese, beach day (and bikini shopping at Rip Curl) at Manly, I got to know my hostel roommates better.  This is Jeanine.  She’s a physical therapist from Canada and was just taking two months to enjoy Australia by herself.  Love that.

And this is Antonia. She’s from Germany and is my inspiration.  After a several-year-long relationship ended, she decided to pursue a lifelong dream: tour the world for a year.  She started saving – 2,000 € for each month she’d be abroad – and quit her job and took off.  She left Germany, headed to the UK, then on to California, then New Zealand, then Australia.  I think when I left her she still had a month or two in Australia.  Her next stop was Thailand I think?

Antonia insisted on photographing me, though I was too intrigued with the couples having a date at the opera.

Two days later I met up with John in Canberra – the nation’s capital.  We were due to meet at 10pm but both of us had the craziest travel days and ended up not meeting until 7am the next morning.  His graduation was two hours later.  Needless to say, we’re exhausted in these images. But how swanky and handsome does my boy look in his regalia?!

Thank you, strangers, for these amazing photos. :-)

Ah, this was a self-portrait taken at the Australian World War II memorial.  So awesome.

The following days John and I explored Canberra and Sydney and had the time of our lives.  We discovered a mutual love for electric bikes and chicken sandwiches.

The Parliament House.

The most amazing chicken sandwich fast food chain: Aporto.
This place gives Chik-fil-a a run for its money!

John surprised me with a tour at the Australia Center for Photography.
Also… he insisted we capture my love for birds by this awesome sign.

Another insider tip: electric bikes are the way. to. go.  15km/hour baby and virtually no effort exuded
while going up hills.  Quite an amazing little invention.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge.

“What do you want to do tomorrow, baby girl?” he asked.
“All I want is a day at the beach… sandy and warm,” I quickly responded.  And that’s exactly what we did.

We ended the evening and our last night in Australia, with a bottle of wine (which we drank out of these ridiculous little cups) and enjoyed the sunset. Oh and laughed till our stomached ached.  It was the best night.

Actually, that’s not quite how we ended our trip.  After the sun had set,
we made one last stop to Aporto and shared a Coke with our Mate. ;-)

Oh, how I miss the Land Down Under.  I could go on and on about the culture, the people, what to see and do.  We definitely couldn’t afford the time away to stay an entire month, which is so necessary if you want to see all Australia has to offer.
I’m already planning my return trip.