Eumundi Markets

The past few weeks have been full of school and school work.  I had an overload of assignments to do and not a lot of free time.  I had to take a break from exploring Australia and concentrate on school.  It was quite a bummer to have to stay put and do work, but I had to remind myself of the true reason I’m here and that is school. But now I’m on Spring Break and don’t have to worry about school until October 3^rd, so the adventuring has begun again.

Today, five of my friends and I took a two hour bus ride north to Eumundi where they have a huge market place on Saturdays.  The markets are full of jewelry, clothes, crafts, food, produce, Aboriginal items, Australia souvenirs, and so many more creative things.  Most of the items are handmade which made the shopping even more exciting.  The vendors were so nice and would always strike up a cheerful conversation with us.  They would tell us about their work and ask about our lives.  We would always be so intrigued with each other’s stories. 

At one of the tents they were selling and playing didgeridoos, so we stopped by and listened to the beautiful music and looked at the amazing handmade Aboriginal musical instruments.    After playing some songs, the vendor asked us if we wanted to try playing.  Of course we couldn’t resist.  So we sat down and had a lesson on how to play a didgeridoo.   Both of the vendor’s were so nice, explaining how to play the instrument and make different sounds.  They cheered us on even though the sounds we were making sounded more like a dying cow than beautiful music.  We did get a little better after practicing for a while and Holly even decided to buy one of the beautiful instruments, so we will continue practicing and hopefully get better.

My first big buy of the day was a boomerang.  It is also a handmade Aboriginal piece of work.  It is beautifully carved and painted and has a kangaroo on it, so I couldn’t resist buying it.  Although boomerangs are made for throwing and hunting, I think my boomerang will just a piece of artwork just for looks.  It’s too pretty to mess up.  My next big buy of the day was a pair of Australian made Uggs.  I love Uggs and ever since I decided that I was coming to Australia I knew I would have to buy a pair of real Australian made Uggs.  Just knowing that they are made and from Australia makes the boots so much better!  The Uggs are so cool, they have a picture of Australia on the heel and have AUS with the Australia flag designed for the tread of the boot.  I bought a pair of bright pink ones because I figured they were different than just the ones you can buy back home in the USA.  Today was a great day and a fantastic beginning to a well-deserved break from school.



Markets!




Didgeridoo!




We're starting a band...




My Australian Souvenirs



Australian Uggs!