Melbourne Mackenzy

Hello world!

Its a beautiful day here in Melbourne, Australia and I thought I would carve sometime out of my day to catch everybody up on my new life! I have officially been here a whole week and it has been quite an experience already! The family I am working for and living with has treated me very well so far and make me feel as though I have always been here! The routine of each day was hard to figure out but now that I've got it, each day gets easier and easier! The boys keep me busy and so do dishes and the adorable baby! I love being around the kids though because they have such a unique perspective on life...and the baby is doing new things every day! Its amazing how they change from day to day!

I get weekends completely off which is wonderful! Since starting here I have been going to sleep every single night before 9:30!! Its amazing how kids can wear you out! So my weekends I get to catch up on sleep and sightsee! This being my first weekend in Melbourne, I decided to use my time to figure out the tram and train system and check out the streets around where I live now! I am technically outside of Melbourne in a suburb called Mont Albert North and there are hundreds of suburbs that all kind-of blend together! There is a tram and bus system that can get you anywhere in the city and I have been fortunate enough to live right by both stops! I spent yesterday figuring out that if I take the tram two stops away from the city, it leads directly to the train station which will get me into the city faster than the 50 stops on the tram! I didn't take the train in but I walked around the train station which is also a shopping area! This area's suburb is called Box Hill and it turns out that it is one of Melbourne's Chinatowns! I walked around for about an hour or two (bought an outlet adaptor) and just people watched! It felt just like Chinatown in NYC (shout out to my bestie Mandy who is currently an au pair in NYC too!) I was too busy checkin' out the sites to take many pictures but here are a few..

Only passenger on the tram!

After my walk around Chinatown/Box Hill, I headed back towards my home but got highly distracted by the flowers around the neighborhood! As you guys may have guessed, I love flowers and trees and just nature in general! So I made a side trip to a park right by my house and took pictures of the flowers and trees! Check them out!

If this is what winter looks like in Melbourne, I can't wait for spring!!! I'm so excited to continue to explore this beautiful city and keep you up to date with my adventures!!

Mackenzy

A Brave New World

Well...I'm in Australia! As some may know, I decided around January to pursue the option of being a nanny somewhere abroad for 6 months! I applied on an awesome website that connects you to various families (aupair-world.net) and found a family in Melbourne, Australia! I arrived here on Saturday the 9th after a strenuous and exhausting 24 hours of flight time. I had quick lay-overs at all my stops (Dallas, Brisbane, and Sydney) but due to weather, I missed my connection from Sydney to Melbourne. The airline I flew with, Qantas, was so great to me and the other passengers who missed their flight due weather and quickly got me another flight! I loved that airline so much due to the hospitality on the flights! They provide meals on each flight, even if it is an hour long flight! They also have personal TVs on the back of the seats for long flights and for the shorter ones, each passenger is provided an iPad with movies and TV shows! It was awesome!

I finally made it to Melbourne and connected with my new family! The parents are so sweet and the kiddos are ADORABLE! The oldest, Ben, is 4 and very rambunctious and energetic! He goes to kinder classes 3 days a week but the other days we get to build paper planes and do puzzles together with his little brother, Christian! Chrissy (as they call him) is a sweet, caring, little 2 and a half year old who does anything his older brother Benny does! They are typical little boys with lots of wrestling and laughs, but also with the occasional sibling rivalry! The third and final child of the family is a completely beautiful, 8 month old baby girl named Salome (pronounced Sal [rhymes with gal]-Oh-Mee) or as the boys call her, Baby! Her name is so unique and fitting for her, but I've started calling her Lolo and Sally with the boys...we shall see what sticks!

My day starts at 7 when the kiddos wake up and it ends at 8-ish when they fall asleep. So that means I'm EXHAUSTED by the end of the day which is partially why I hadn't updated the world and all my friends out there about my new world! I will hopefully get to explore Melbourne more this coming weekend (which I have off) and write a few new blog posts! I still haven't written about all the AMAZING food and restaurants I got to experience this past summer in Charlotte so I need to catch up! But its 9:36 PM here which is my new bedtime due to my fun-filled but draining new occupation! Keep me in your prayers as I learn about this family more, their routine, and as I explore this new land I'm in!

Mack

The World is Beautiful..

Hey y'all!!! I'm approaching my last week here in Charlotte, North Carolina and I'm trying to get in as much as I can! So I looked up some things around town that were free and I found something close by to where I live: The University of North Carolina Charlotte Botanical Gardens. I had no idea that I lived so close to such beautiful gardens and from the feel of it, I don't think a lot of people do! It was super empty but the gardens are really beautiful and great for a nice hike!

I live right on the outskirts of UNCC and so it was literally right around the corner for me! It feels like a secret garden since it is so empty and its kind of hard to find. Its also outside of the city parts of Charlotte so its a great destination if you live around University City (the area around UNCC).

The botanical gardens consist of two area: Susie Harwood Gardens and the Van Landingham Glen. It also has a really cute little greenhouse right across from the entrance to the gardens.

The Van Landingham Glen is a great walk through a small version of the Carolina Woodlands. There is beautiful, giant trees and gorgeous ferns and plants all along the path! The area has quaint bridges and streams that made me feel totally relaxed! It was such a beautiful area..here are some of plants and trees that I got pictures of on my walk!

I loved this creeping vine and the different colors it was turning!! 

Trees here are SO tall!!

Such a cute babbling brooks!!

Here is a little cardinal that I caught!! 

The Harwood Garden was also really cool! It was filled with pretty flowers and trees as well, but it also had interesting sculptures and beautiful mosaics! Check them out!

I like to think this is for fairies!!

 I loved this flower!!

This statue translates to "welcome to the garden" according to a sign nearby.

Another strange but interesting sculpture!

I loved walking around outside and just being at one with nature! Living in an apartment is rough because I don't have a backyard I can go outside and hang out in like back home! The only downside to North Carolina is the humidity!! Its so hot and sticky to walk around outside and after awhile, one needs air conditioner!! As much as I love it here, I could live without humidity!

The next portion of my outing at the gardens was the greenhouse! It was equally as humid in those but just as cool! I love greenhouses because you can plant beautiful things off season!! Here are some of my favorite things I found!!

 This room was filled with prehistoric plants (hence the dinosaur)!

This was called a "pigtail anthurium"...I thought it was cute!!

"Living Stone" plants

"Tarantula Cactus"

This tree's leaves were huge!!

"Fox Face Plant" 

"Boob Tube"...honestly I just thought this plant looked funny and had a funny name!

There was a whole room FULL of orchids!! I loved them all!!

 The plants above and below are "pitcher plants" which I think are totally cool!!

These were HUGE..that is a piece of paper next to it that shows how large the pitcher plants are!

I had so much fun wandering among the beauty of nature!! If you are ever in the northeast side of Charlotte by the UNCC campus, check out the gardens! You can check out their website here. It is worth a visit!!

Kenzy