Hello from the land down under! Even though New Zealand is further down.....
25/7
Hung around until check out and then put my bags in storage and went on the internet to waste some time. I went and got lunch/breakfast and then went back to the hostel to wait around until it was time to get the bus to the airport. I arrived there earlier than I thought I would and that was made even more annoying when my flight was delays for almost 3 hours!! Because of how late the flight took off, there was rumours that it would be cancelled or go to Melbourne instead. Thankfully everything was ok and we landed 20mins before the 11pm curfew at the airport. Originally supposed to land at 8pm. So I didn't get to the hostel until midnight.
26/7
I had a bit of a lay in and didn't have to wake up to an alarm. I eventually got up and went down to the harbour. I went on the Opera House Tour, that was good, learnt some stuff and got to see the inside. The concert hall was amazing. It was a really overcast day and then it started to rain while I was strolling through the Royal Botanic Gardens. Nevertheless the gardens were really pretty. I had to keep stopping people to get them to take my picture for me. I walked some serious distance today. It is half an hour just down to the harbour from the hostel let alone all the extra walking I did inbetween. I rung home and spoke to them all, that was nice.
27/7
Glorious blue sky today so I took myself back out to most of yesterday's picture spots and got them again this time with lovely sky behind them! Sat in the botanic gardens and had lunch. I got pooped on by a bird so then decided to sit on the grass but then I got a damp patch on my bottom, what luck! I did hte bridge climb, it wasn't difficult at all but way overpriced for what it is I thought. I was lucky enough to be coming down it at sunset which was nice. The people just coming up the bridge had paid an extra $100 just to do it at sunset- suckers!! I then hung around the harbour until it was dark to see the bridge and opera house lit up. It was not as lit up as I thought it would be though.
28/7
Today I got the ferry across to Taronga Zoo on the other side of the harbour. The zoo was good, although quite steep but it did mean I got to ride in the cable car up to the top of the zoo. There was a really cute 2 week old baby Asian elephant, so small, running about, falling over and generally messing around! I also saw some koalas and a wombat, I didn't realise that they were so big. Went back to the hostel in the afternoon and was just about to go out and there was a knock at the door and standing there was my old travelling buddy Ell. Nice to see a familar face. Took him down to the harbour then came back and we had some dinner. Rung home again and spoke to Mum.
29/7
This morning I went whale watching, that is after I managed to find a chemist open before 9am to get some sea sick pills. I was lucky enough to see some humpback whales (a Mum and her year old calf). We saw them quite a few times. I had to have a snooze in the afternoon as the tablets had made me drowsy. I then read for a bit before we made dinner, we had a couple of beers at the bar and then did our laundry.
30/7
This morning I went to the aquarium over on Darling Harbour. I saw the cute little platypus and some duggons which are like manatees but with different tails. There was a big Spongebob Squarepants theme and his house and his mates where in the pool at the end with the sharks in. Met Ell for lunch (we had Mexican) before we headed off to the Opera House to book us some tickets for a show. We then stopped for tea and cake overlooking the harbour. We went to Sydney Museum in the afternoon. Learnt about the early settlers and fleets in Sydney. Went out for yummy yet really cheap pizza for dinner.
31/7
This morning I went to the National Maritime Museum. It was really interesting and I learnt about the Australian Navy and the war. There was a couple of exhibitions, one on swimsuits and one on Charles Darwin, I was really tired of reading but this point though! In the evening we headed down to the harbour and had a couple of pre show drinks overlooking the harbour bridge. We went and saw the Sydney Symphony perform accompanying music to a Russian silent movie about one of their battleships. Sounds strange but it was good and we saved a fortune on the tickets because we had both been on the opera house tour.
1/8
Today was the earliest start for a while, 6am. We had a 1 hour 15 minute bus ride out to Euroka National Park where we saw some wild grey kangaroos. At one point a little joey popped his head out. We then had a 3 hour walk to see the Blue Mountains. There was some really lovely views and some underhangs to walk under. The next walk was only 45mins but it was down some really steep stairs (the Furber Stairs) to see the Three Sisters. Then we went back up via the steepest railway in the world. I really don't think that I could have handled going down it! In the evening we walked around Darling Harbour.
2/8
Lazy morning this morning, eventually got up and booked the bus for tomorrow and my hostel. Didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day but then Ell found me and asked if I wanted to go to Bondi beach, off we went. It was a lot smaller and less impressive than you would think it would be but it is still cool to have gone there. We hung there for the afternoon and watched the surfers and men in speedos go by, one guy in particular had the funniest run! In the evening we did laundry (what fun we have!) and just chatted. I spoke to home and Katharine also, that was nice.
So that is Sydney, I will be heading back there in 3 months time to catch my flight home but it's not so bad as it's a really nice place to be!
xxx
