Blue Mountains and classes at UTS

I am sorry I have not posted any message for almost a week. In fact this I have been taking my first classes at UTS. I had my first class in Academic Writing on Monday at 10.00 AM. There are other foreign students attending this course and during the week I could know some of them. They are all very nice people coming from different countries. Most of them come from Asian countries and are studying at UTS after winning a scholarship within an Australian Government Program called AusAID.

During this class we learn and practise in paraphrasing, summarising and synthetising since we will have to be able to write our numerous assignments during the semester. It is very interesting how much the lecturer cares of teaching us these techniques especially regarding how to avoid plagiarism. We spent a lot of time in learning how to properly write our assignments and reference our work in order to support our ideas and give credit to other experts' work.

In the afternoon I have been taking the Academic Speaking class. In this class we have less work to do a focus mostly on techniques for successfully speaking in an academic environment. Furthermore we talk a lot about different approaches to speaking in our own cultures. In fact there are people from many country in this class as well.

Going back to previous I would like to tell about my trip to the Blue Mountains. Cath's good friend invited me to have a one day tour in the mountains and she gave me all directions to get at there. Around 9.00 AM on Friday 27th January I went to Central Station by train and changed to the Blue Mountains. The train left from Central at 10.00 AM and I got off at Blaxland almost a hour later. I really enjoyed wathcing the landscape out the window between Emu Plains and Blaxland. There she picked me up and we went to Wentworth's Falls. Both Wentworth and Blaxland were with another man and are supposed to be the first European men who travelled over the Blue Mountains. After walking down to the waterfalls we had a look at them and the valley from a scenic lookout. It was fairly warm on that day but we enjoy the walk.

Afterwards we went to Katoomba, probably the most famous place on the Blue Mountains, and I saw for the first time the Three Sisters. They are three blocks of rock and an aborigenal legend tells about them as three sisters who were transormed into rocks by their father during warfare in order to make them not face the risks of wartime. Unfortunately he died during the war and untill now nobody has been capable of freeing the Three Sisters from their stony appearance.

Later on we had lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Leura not far from Katoomba and after a walk in Leura Mall I had my first passion fruit ice cream. It is very good and I suggest everyone to try it if possible.

Australia Day

January 26th is Australia Day. That is a public holiday and Australians celebrate Captain Cook's first landing in Kurnell in 1788. I spent the day in the City with Maris and Mick. There were a lot of events in the City and we had a look at some of them.

First we went to the cinema and watched Munich, by Steven Spielberg. Actually, I did not like very much Spielberg's previous movies but I enjoyed the show and think this is a good one. After the show we had lunch at Subway.

Later we had a trip on Sydney historic bus and had look at the City. A good friend of Maris and Mick was involved in that event and invited us to partecipate. We got off in a street I cannot remember the name and then walked amid a old car exhibition. There were many cars from different NSW Clubs and I could see some Italian cars among them such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat.

Later we got in Hyde Park where many people had crowded for live concerts and picnicking. After having a look at the Park and the fountain we walked to Central Station and got back home.

For those who do not know, NSW is the abbreviation for New South Wales, one of the states who federated in the Commonwealth of Australia. As many car plates state NSW is the premier state in Australia and Sydney is the capital city. Anyway, I will probably tell more about Aussie car plates next.

Horse riding & Wollongong

Last Sunday Yasemin invited me to go to Darkes Forest. There she has got a horse called Dante. On Wednesday at 10.30 AM we left from Oatley. The riding centre is located in the southern fringe of The Royal National Park. That is a large park of which I could see the northern edge from Shelley Beach on the day I went to Cronulla with Mick.

She first drove to Moore Bank where she had to change a pair of shoes and then we went on the Freeway to Darkes Forest. There is major riding centre with many stables and even more ranches where tens of horses live.

The landscape is completely different from the Outback image which is so popular in Europe. Even if I knew about the forests there I was quite surprised when I was in The Royal National Park.

After taking care of the horse she had a ride for almost a hour and then we ate our sandwiches, which we had bought before our departure. Then we went to Wollongong driving on the Highway close to the South Coast. We had a look at North Wollongong and then went back home on the Freeway.

Kuring-gai & Gnocchi

On Tuesday I went to UTS Kuring-gai Campus. I will not take any class at that campus, since both Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of IT are based in UTS Broadway Campus in the City. Anyway we went to Kuring-gai to attend a presentation meeting for Cath's practicum. Kuring-gai Campus is a very quiet and nice one. There are a lot of woods, plants and animals outside the building and among which people can have walks, rest and talk.

We got there at 8.40 AM and the presentation meeting was scheduled for 9.00 AM. The prac co-ordinator is a very nice person who can do his job very well and with good sense of humour. The only thing for which I could blame the people running the Kuring-gai Campus was the air conditioning in the hall. They said the air conditioning machine broke and then we had the indicator on maximum cold.

After the presentation we had a drink at the UTS Union Cafeteria and then went back home. That night I cooked gnocchi and I was quite successful. Everybody enjoyed the meal and thereafter I could finally rest.

Watsons Bay & Bondi Beach

On Monday I went with Maris, Mick and David to Narellan where David had to take a new exhaust. After going back home I had my first meat pie. There to fashions to eat a meat pie. Either you put tomato sauce on the top; or you open it, put some tomato sauce inside and the close it and eat it.

After lunch we went to the place of Maris's sister in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. There we put on our cossies, also called boardpants, and dived into the swimming pool. It was a fairly warm day and pool water was maybe 26-27 C. I really enjoyed my time there.

Later in the afternoon we went to Watson Bay, a Sydney Harbour Bay close to the South Head. The North & South Heads are the two cliffs defining the Sydney Harbour entrance. The settlement in Watson Bay looks like an old English fishermen's village. If you walk the way from the Bay up to the hill there is a good spot from which you can take a look at the Ocean and the North Head. In 1800s a ship became wrecked off the coast.

Then we drove to Bondi Beach. This is the most famous beach in Sydney. It is a long wide white-sanded beach where people even after work on weekdays. I did not bath because water was really cold and it was already 700 PM. In my opinion Bondi Beach kicks Cronulla Beach. There we had lamb kebabs for dinner.

Oatley Point & Surroundings

On Saturday I took a look at Oatley Point. Behind the corner is Oatley Park where I was on Thursday.

Then I went to the beach at Botany Bay close to the place where I am currently staying and could see some parrots called kokatoos.

Later we went back home.

Sightseeing

Today I went to Brighton with Mick. This is a quite popular beach in Botany Bay just on the way from Oatley to the City. On Sunday there are many people building up more and more during the day. There are no great waves but it is a very nice place to spend some time at.

Later Mick drove me to Kogarah Railway Station where I boarded the train to Central Station. There I met with Cath's friend and we went to Circular Quay and Opera House. So I saw the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time. Then we walked back to the Rocks. There are many ancient buildings and an open air market. Later we had lunch at one of many cafes in the area.

After lunch we walked through CBD to the Strand and walked by Queen Victoria Building and Town Hall and down the way to Central.

Unfortunately I did not shoot any pictures because I had low camera batteries. Anyway, I will back there soon and will be able to take some pictures.