My First Month Down Under

Hey everyone, I’m Amelia and I study BSc Geography at Southampton and am currently on my semester abroad in Adelaide, Australia!

I’ve been here just over a month now and time has flown by!  I am staying in international halls right in the city centre of Adelaide, and although it is a little pricey, it’s so amazing. The location couldn’t be better: There are clubs, supermarkets, a shopping centre, and of course the uni campus all just a 5-minute walk away. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world: USA, Denmark, Chile, Columbia, and Malaysia- to name a few.

The city itself is gorgeous, although it’s quite small for a city, being nicknamed the ’20-minute city’ because you can walk from one end to the other in just 20 minutes. Within the city there are free trams which is great for getting your bearings in the first few days, and then if you want to travel all the way to the end and go to the beach it’s only an extra $2. Adelaide uni campus is also beautiful. There are so many old buildings and lots of green space- it’s so easy to study in such a pretty place!

Since I’ve been here, of course I’ve been keeping up with my studies (kind of) but I’ve also done so much exploring and got to visit some really cool places. On my first weekend our halls organised a trip to a place called Victor Harbour which was a really lovely day out. While we were there we walked over a bridge to Granite Island and hiked to the top (resulting in some great views). On the way back from the trip we also stopped off at Urimbirra wildlife park which was by far my favourite thing I have done so far. Not only did we get to see kangaroos and koalas close up but we got to feed them and even get a selfie!

Also, just as I arrived in the city the Adelaide Fringe Festival was starting! This is a month-long arts and music festival- the second largest fringe festival in the world (after Edinburgh). This means that there’s so much going on in the city at the moment: Parades, concerts, comedy shows and so much more! Adele is also touring Australia for the first time so I got together with some friends and we went to the Adelaide Oval for her concert. To say it was amazing would be an understatement!

Of course, the weather here is amazing! Since I arrived I think it has rained twice and most of the rest of the time there is complete sunshine and it has been in the high 20s or 30s (One day it reached 39 degrees)! Obviously, being from England, when the sun is out you have to make the most of it so I have been to the beach A LOT. More often than not it results in sun burn as opposed to a tan but it’s worth it to spend the day with friends watching the sunset and swimming in the sea (which is much cleaner and warmer than at home).

So I guess you could say I’ve been pretty busy since I’ve been here but there’s still so much more of the city to explore and I’m so excited about spending the next 4 months here!

That’s all for now but I will try to keep this updated with my adventures down under 🙂