Same, Same, but Different
What a week y'all. It's been a lot.
Lina and I took an Uber to Heathrow Sunday morning to start our journey to Sydney, Australia. Somehow in the melee of booking all the flights for this incredible trip, Lina's flight wasn't until Monday morning. So I ended up hopping on a flight to Kuala Lumpur solo. 13+ hours later, I made it to Malaysia. After a short layover, I hopped on another long flight, 8+ hours, to Australia! The Australian version of TSA took my orange as I landed, big sad.
I hit the hay as soon as I got to the hotel and woke up at 4am. Rough. But that's jet lag for you. Once the sun had risen, I decided to venture out into Sydney. Was a full-on tourist; walked to the little zoo and aquarium in the heart of town. Saw some very cool animals and underwater critters.
Went across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to grab lunch at a restaurant Mario suggested. A beautiful little spot on the water, I enjoyed some delicious fish tacos while watching the boats. Made my way back across the bridge and walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens, another Mario suggestion. Walked to the Sydney Opera House and snapped some pics.
The more I walked through Sydney, the more it felt familiar. Australia feels very American - it's more spread out, unlike all the European cities I've been traveling to as of late. It's so weird, the farthest place from home feels the most like home. There's something philosophical there, I can feel it, but I don't have the mental fortitude to dive into that one this week.
Lina finally made it to Sydney that night and the GCP travels officially started!
Wednesday proved to be a rainy morning, so started the day with research for our project. As soon as the sun came out, we made our way to Manly Beach. Pretty sure we were surrounded by kiddos surfing for P.E. class in the ocean. A different way of life here!
Mario once again came through and planned dinner and drinks with some of his mates from uni for us to meet up with. Such a fun night!
On Thursday, we had the chance to go to the University of Sydney and meet with the CTO of the Australian Space Agency! This woman is incredible, such an inspiration. She was kind enough to spend 45 minutes with us and answer all our questions.
After the meeting, we went to the fish market and grabbed some yummy food. Ended up back at the hotel and took a nap that started at 6pm and didn't end till 1am...oops. At that point, we decided to go back to sleep again. Bodies were definitely tired. We had an afternoon flight to Melbourne and did some work on the paper and presentation for GCP. After arriving in Melbourne, we found some delicious Thai food, and some fun drinks as well.
Saturday took us to the St. Kilda beach and pier - a very different vibe from the Sydney beach. We stumbled upon something called Luna Park, an amusement park from another era. I was stunned. After that, we walked Chapel Street and did some shopping. Sushi for dinner and drinks at Station 8 and Chuckle Park Bar - highly recommend.
Easter Sunday started at Hillsong Church, and we got chocolate eggs! Afterward, we walked to the Queen Victoria Market and explored the stalls. It was raining today so we got ramen and headed to the National Gallery of Victoria.
On a professional note, Tranche 0 Launch 1 finally occurred! 8 York satellites are orbiting Earth as we speak. Launch can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnnUoZ66ihg but most importantly, the satellites work! It was incredibly difficult to leave a program behind before it was finished and I am so happy for the team that I left behind. I know how hard they were working while I was there, and I can imagine that that level of effort continued through launch. I would be handing out so many gold stars if I was still there. If any of you read this, I hope y'all get a well-earned break too :)
Comments
Post a Comment