see ya, Australia

It's all over now. Well, that was a lie. Only my exchange year is over now but the people I've met, the things I've learned  and the things I've seen will stay with me forever. Like Natalie "warned" me this is something I will refer to for the rest of my life.

I've been home for a month already and the whole year still feels like a dream I'm finding extremely hard believing. It's all coming back — I remember things and they make the whole thing feel more real. Exchange year is something so incredible I'm really struggling finding words to describe mine. The reality is I cannot. The organisations have the same problem.  What they say in the leaflets is nothing like the year really is. It's something bigger, better and more life-changing than you could imagine. It's something you'd need to experience yourself. And even after that there would be no one else than you who'd understand your personal experience. So, this is just something I can try but always fail to tell completely.

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#COWCHSOUTHBANK

follow me on Instagram @katkettu

I've found a heaven on Earth. A breakfast heaven, to be clear. This easily best and cutest café melted my heart and it'll do the same for yours. Let's start with the already too adorable name: Cowch. They even have udder lamps hanging from the ceiling. The interiors designers have done excellent job with making the café look very chic and playful without going over the top. A great wooden desk stands in the middle of the open room giving the space a cool authentic look.

And then there's the menu. If you know Julia and myself at all you're not going to be too surprised when I tell you we ordered basically everything we could. I'm not saying we finished it all but we were really close. Part of the reason must be it was the ANZAC day and we had been up since 2 am and were starving at 7 am, the other part was clearly the fact the food was SO delicious.

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Gold Coast photoshoot

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Kiama & Blue Mountains

These are the last pictures from Sydney. I dedicated two days to the city and the other two to nature. On Thursday we drove down to Kiama which is a really pretty, relatively small town about one and half an hour away from Sydney. They have this famous attraction "blowhole" which spits water with great pressure and creates awesome-looking water explosions. Prepare to get wet even if you're standing far away.

On my last day my lovely Sydney family took me to Blue Mountains. There's no words to describe that place. It is just breathtaking. I like to refer it to the Grand Canyon of America — only a bit smaller. I'd say you have to see it yourself because it is definitely worth getting up super early.

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Sydney museums

I love museums, let me just put that in there. I especially love the museums of modern art not only because of the fascinating exhibitions but most of all the space. Somehow I find the tall rooms and the industrial background noise extremely soothing. It's funny because I also love airports which are the complete opposite to quiet and peaceful museums. 

 Anyway, you have probably already figured out why I insisted seeing a few museums while I was in Sydney. I picked two the most interesting ones which were The Museum of Sydney, which turned out to be a bit disappointing as I was expecting to see a much larger exhibition, and The Museum of Applied Arts and Science aka MAAS, which turned out to be even better than I had expected.

MAAS is located in the old Powerhouse just about a ten minute walk from Darling Harbour. In there were various free exhibitions as well as one for which you had to buy a ticket. We ended up going only to the free exhibitions and in the end I can say there was plenty to see. The final works of art students were very beautiful. We had loads of fun walking through the evolution of computers and pointing at the first Macintosh computers as well as the first iPads. There was also another part of the Undressed exhibition about the evolution of underwear I went to see in Brisbane.

If you happen to pass by this gorgeous building I really recommend to go and have a look inside.

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madame Tussauds

Continuing with the Sydney series, on Wednesday it was time for the absolute highlight of my trip: Madame Tussauds. I had been waiting for oh-so-long to go see these fantastic figures. Once I had a possibility in London I got sick and couldn't go. Needless to say – I was beyond excited to see Audrey and Obama and don't even get me started about Taylor Swift!

My dad and sister have been in the London's Madame Tussauds once so I kind of knew what to expect. It was still far better I could've ever imagined. The figures are so detailed I accidentally apologised running to them expecting them to be real people. I wasn't the only one.

I absolutely love the idea of Madame Tussauds. I mean, you can prepare fingerling the real deal first seeing these wax figures. The experience is something incredible as you get the feeling like you were in the White House with Obama or in a set of Hitchcock's. The creators get all my respects.

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