Tasmania, Sydney - June 2014

Aussie June 2014 (Trip to Tasmania & Sydney with HMM) 18-23 June 2014 Aussie June 2014 - Sneak Peek https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154220240285214&type=3 None of these pictures have our faces as we screen for inappropriate pictures. Nonetheless, this album is just as awesome as those with our faces in ;) That's because Australia (in my opinion, especially Tasmania) has spectacular and interesting places/buildings/nature/sceneries... Practicing my photography skills with my new Canon waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof camera hehe. Enjoy! I already miss the place and hope to be able to visit again sometime... Aussie June 2014 - Day 1 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154218644160214&type=3 Let's take this as our super belated grad trip? :) Our journey started late 18th June. The Scoot flight to Sydney was 7-8 hours long, daunting... And the plane ride started off on a very rocky start as the plane ascended into the skies through a thunderstorm. Once it stabilized, we had our rest and only reached Sydney around noon. It was expensive to move out of the airport to explore Sydney. Considering we only had a few hours to kill, we decided to explore the airport and stopped to have our 'lunch' and then plan the route for our last day in Sydney using the brochures and map we obtained. We took a domestic flight to Launceston and only reached around 8pm Launceston time. Australia is 2 hours ahead of us this winter! Fazreen, Iffah's friend fetched us from the airport, sent us to our apartment to drop our things before we headed to his shared apartment to have a sumptuous feast prepared by him and his housemates - Briyani with grilled 'fresh' lamb and deserts! Before we ended the night, we went to Coles to get our groceries to cook our meals for subsequent days and well, and we shopped a little at K mart after that. Aussie June 2014 - Day 2 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154218758405214&type=3 Here we begin our awesome adventures in Australia! We started the day with breakfast that we prepared ourselves and with our stomachs filled, Fazreen brought us to visit Cataract Gorge Park, a splendid place that relaxes and refreshes the mind with the breathtaking views of mountains, the gorge, the waterfall and the sky! We went to the strawberry farm after that, but it was closed, so we went to Seaport instead where the sails stand out beautifully against the blue sky. There we had coffee and icecream before we headed to the new, one and only mosque in Launceston situated in the University of Tasmania for Jumaah prayers. A beautiful experience, and a good reminder too of the upcoming fasting month that is fast approaching. After Jumaah prayers, we had lunch at King of Kebab, yum yum, and we then had to part ways. Launceston still holds many beautiful places that we didn't manage to visit and venture this time round. Perhaps next time... That night, we shopped at Target, Coles and K Mart. Haha, shopping is a weird thing to be doing in Launceston, but we got hold of some momentos of Launceston for ourselves from there. Aussie June 2014 - Day 3 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154218917095214&type=3 On Day 3, we went on a 3-hour car ride to Hobart, an impromptu destination, where some very friendly Malaysian sisters Farah, Syamsiah and Maryam who are studying in University of Tasmania brought us around Salamanca market. I met Nazihah! And Alia! And Nazihah asked if we'd like to drive up to the summit of Mount Wellington. Of course we want! And so Harizah drove us in Syafiq's car there. That night, we walked towards the pier, seeing Dark Mofo along the way and had fish n chips for dinner! Aussie June 2014 - Day 4 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154220300760214&type=3 We had an early flight to catch to Sydney, so there wasn't much pictures at Tassie in the morning. Prior to checking in to our 4-bed accommodation at Pensione, we had our lunch at the halal cafe in T2 and bought some chocolates as souvenirs. Immediately after checking in, we continued on our mission to buy souvenirs at Paddy's market. By the time we made our way to Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, it was already dark but we still managed to hop on the last shuttle bus service! The two icons were picturesque! After having fun recording quirky videos, we took the ferry to Darling Harbour where we walked back to our accommodation. As we walk, we saw many beautiful architectural designs, andddd many branded shops! Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), they were closed... That night, our dinner was simple: cup noodles! That's because there was no kitchen for us to cook in... Simple as it is, we had a good time laughing away at the funny moments as we concluded the trip with sharing our reflections regarding the special moments and highlights of the trip. Aussie June 2014 - Day 5 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154219031350214&type=3 A very short morning before we headed to the airport for our Scoot flight back to Singapore. Last chance to pray as musafir... Once we reached the airport, we shared a cup noodle as breakfast as we queued up to check-in our bags. Oh boy, our bags really multiplied! We then had some snacks before flight and almost missed our flight, as we didn't expect the customs clearance to be very meticulous! The flight back was spent individually reflecting and concluding the trip on the impact it had made on us. Alhamdulillah we safely reached Singapore and home sweet home. Luckily we reached back to Singapore in the evening. Otherwise our body would have gotten a shock from the below 12 degrees to above 30 degrees. Now we're back to our lives. As we go back to fulfilling our responsibilities here in Singapore, I'm sure this trip had made an impact on us that has left us a slightly different person from the person that flew to Aussie on 19th June... Private pictures of Aussie June 2014 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154221143810214&type=3