Adventure to Sydney

"If Paris is a city if lights, Sydney is the city of fireworks."

                                                          Baz Luhrmann

This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Sydney! It's one of the most beautiful cities I have seen thus far through all of my traveling. From different festivals to sight seeing to a beautiful fireworks display, Sydney had it all! 

After about a two hour flight, we arrived to our hostel in the evening. Accompanied by two others from Bond, Miles and Jayme, we set out and explored the city at night. We had dinner at a pizza place and then found a playground near Darling Harbour. Of course we splashed in the fountains and played on the playground equipment. We then walked around Darling Harbour and ended the night as we had a long day ahead of us. 

The next day our first stop of sight seeing in Sydney Harbour was the Opera House. 

We took an hour tour of the Opera House and learned about the almost 40 years of history behind the magnificent building. The Opera house consisted of some 200 rooms and held about 2,500 performances a year. Even though we were not allowed to take pictures inside the theaters, our guide let us in the largest theater hall at the Opera House. 

The stage was set up for a symphony and we missed the rehearsal by a couple hours...bummer! However, it was such an incredible thing to have seen. After our wonderful tour of the Opera House, we followed our adventurous side and went on a jet boat ride. Being such the adventurous group we were, we sat in the front of the boat next to the driver. I know I was in Sydney, but I think this was the most fun I had on the entire trip. The driver took us out of the Sydney Harbour and did a few tricks with the boat. He swerved side to side, quickly turned the boat so we would whip around and he also stopped the boat quickly so that I would get a mouthful of salt water. Even though I was completely soaked with salt water, it was one of the best things I have ever done! 

After the boat ride, we took the Sydney Ferry to the Taronga Zoo. This famous zoo is home to many animals from across the world, my favorite was the giraffes because they were so beautiful, however, I really enjoyed  one of the rams. 

As I was messing with the functions on my camera, he held this wonderful pose until I had the right shot...he was such a trooper! 

After the zoo we hung around the Sydney Harbour so that Miles and I could get some nice twilight shots of the Opera House for our photography assignment. We ended the day with dinner and headed back to the hostel to sleep for the next day.

The second day we decided to stay near Darling Harbour as we visited the aquarium, wildlife center, and had lunch at the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe. Visiting the aquarium was amazing, as it had been the first aquarium that I have ever been to. To see the different sea creatures which are around Australia was incredible. Of course I saw plenty of the Dory fish (from Finding Nemo)! We came upon a festival in Darling Harbour with had plenty of Spanish dancing, music, and food. It was neat to see that the city is home to a diverse culture! We then headed to the Sydney Eye Tower, which is similar to the Rockefeller Center, however, not as tall. It was incredible to see the city at about sunset with its golden glow. 

After the Eye, we walked through another festival...this time, a food one. Vendors from across the city set up in tents; there was food from Asian to American. The day ended with a fantastic fireworks display in Darling Harbour! It has always been a dream of mine to see fireworks in Sydney, and now it came true!! 

The final day we decided to relax a bit. So we slept in until we needed to checkout of our hostel, grabbed some breakfast from Starbucks (this was the first Starbucks I had encountered since we got the Australia, and boy was I in heaven!!), and then headed on the Sydney Ferry to the famous Manly Beach. It was incredible to finally see this beach as it was in one my favorite movies to watch with my sisters when we were younger (Our Lips are Sealed).We relaxed, well attempted to relax on the beach. The wind was so strong that sand kept blowing on us...this was a bit annoying, but the sun felt great! After about an hour on the beach we headed back on the ferry and hitched a ride to the airport. 

I had an amazing time going to Sydney...but my next adventure will be hang gliding in Byron Bay...stay tuned!

Here are a few more pictures from Sydney....

Cheers!
:-: Katie :-: