Updates from Down Under

Hi everyone! It's been a hectic summer, but I've finally settled down in Melbourne and found some time to write a post. Here's what I've been up to so far:

After exams in May, I headed off to Bend to race the Pole Pedal Paddle with my sister Kate and hang out for a week.

I didn't find much sun in Bend, but the snow cover was good!

After landing back in Zurich, I set off on a road trip to Zegama, Spain, with my other sister. She crushed a vertical kilometer race there with a 4th place finish and we got to explore the mountains a little bit.

We may have gotten a little lost, but we made it to the top

New life experience: being chased down the mountain by a herd of goats

On our drive back, we stopped at the Dune du Pilat on the French Atlantic coast. It's Europe's highest sand dune at 100-115 meters above sea level and a very cool but bizarre natural formation sandwiched between the ocean and the forest.

How did all this sand get here?

Next, my travels took me to London, where I spent three and a half weeks doing an internship in the R&D lab at a biopharmaceuticals company. They let me do a lot of independent lab work, which was exciting! I also learned all about the challenges of fitting in time for training while working 9-5, five days a week.

Rollerskiing in central London and Regents Park with my friend Irene (we got some very strange looks)

Refueling properly post workout with some Dutch pancakes

Found a cute street named after Henry while on a run

As soon as my internship in London was done, I headed home for 24 hours and then on to Sydney to visit a friend and go to study abroad orientation.

Luckily Australian customs let me into the country, even though my ski bag looked a bit like it was carrying a rocket launcher

I've been finding SkiErgs in a surprising number of gyms in non-snowy places - this one was in Sydney

Beautiful views from a run around the Sydney Botanical Gardens

More beautiful views, this time from a trip to the Blue Mountains

I would have thought the world's steepest railway was in Switzerland, but turns out it's in Australia

Bondi Beach was gorgeous, but one grumpy seagull photobombed every picture I took

I'm now in Melbourne and settled in at the college where I'll be living for the next five months. I'm excited to explore the city and hopefully get up to the mountains and snow as soon as I can!

I hope everyone else are enjoying their summers too!