Even More Sydney, Baby!

Day 3
On Sunday, Nova, Elizabeth and I woke up to go on a Blue Mountains Tour. We first stopped at a Wildlife park where we could once again pet Koalas and Kangaroos and see Dingos and Wombats. 

On our way from the Wildlife park to Scenic World, we stopped at a lookout point with a spectacular view of the blue mountains, named for the blueish haze that lingers over the scenery. From Echo Point we had a phenomenal view of the Three Sisters, rock formations with a legend. The legend is that three aboriginal sisters fell in love with three men from a neighboring tribe, but were forbidden to marry due to tribal law. A battle ensued, and in an effort to protect the three sisters, they were turned into stone by a witch doctor. The witch doctor was killed in battle and was the only one who could turn them back, thus the sisters remain forever as stone. 

 

After spending some time there, we bussed our way up to Scenic World. Seeing the Blue Mountains the way tourists were intended to see them. We took the steepest railway in the world down a mountainside to get to a trail, then we walked through the forest and found our way to the cable car to go slowly up the mountainside taking in the view, with our camera lenses pressed up against the glass walls with 35 other tourists. 

More Sydney, Baby!

Day 2

Saturday morning we woke up early to walk over to Sydney's famous Paddington Markets. It's basically a gigantic market with a ton of stands set up selling everything from food to clothing to your regular old wigs! They had at least a hundred stands, with more junk (and some really good stuff) than I have ever seen! It was wonderful!

After we spent some time at the markets we walked over to Darling Harbour and caught a tour ferry to the Opera House. From the water we were able to see the beautiful view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It was the reason we were there, the iconic view, it was Sydney, to the eye of a traveller. We all took at least 30 pictures of the bridge and the Opera house from about 5 slightly different angles, thus categorizing us as the typical tourist.


Then we went to lunch. A few of us had lunch at a cute little sandwich shop and then we all split ways. Nova, Joanna and I took another ferry to a point further down the harbour giving us yet another view of the Opera house as well as allowing us to see the Prime Minister's house (comparable to our White House) and giving us a fantastic view of the Sydney skyline on a sunny day.

Then Nova and I walked across the bridge, a breathtaking view of the city (including the Opera House), and walked around a theme park known as Luna Park. After we walked back we took a nice short break before getting ready for dinner and drinks for Claire's birthday.

Saturday was warmer, busier, and more tiring, but all in all it was worth the exhaustion.

Sydney, Baby! NSW, Australia

Day 1

On Friday November 9th at 3:00 am, my roommate and our friends Matt and Jordan were brutally awaken by our alarm clocks to get ready for our 6:20 am flight to Sydney, the most well known city in Australia. We called a cab on a rainy morning and rode to the airport. As we were boarding the plane, a rainbow reassured us of the weather and we smiled as we set off for our adventure in Sydney.


After an hour long flight to Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, we arrived in the airport. We caught a shuttle bus to our Hostel, Harbour City Backpackers, and checked in. After receiving our keys and heading up the stairs, I opened the door to our room, looked in, paused, and closed the door. My friends, confused by my actions, looked at me quizzically as I explained that there was someone sleeping in my bed! So, I went down to the front desk and had the following conversation:

Me: Ummm, there's a strange man sleeping in our room.
Girl at Desk: (not remotely shocked about this finding) Really? what room are you in?
Me: 202
Girl: hmm, 202.....Ooooh It's just Dave.
Me: just Dave!?
Girl (picks up phone): Hi, can you get Dave out of 202, I've booked some people in that room.
Girl (to me): OK, you should be all set!

Moral of the story, it's JUST Dave sleeping in my bed, and, well, I guess it's better to know that it was just Dave than to not know who was there before!!!

After Dave left, we settled into our room, and headed out to the city. Friday was a cool, cloudy day, but the rain held off while we explored. We first had lunch at a restaurant that our cohorts raved about, called "Pancakes on the Rocks." "The Rocks" is a historical village in Sydney, which was the site of the first European Settlement in 1788. It was originally the first Convict town, but is now a Port City housing many shops, galleries, restaurants, and even weekly markets. 

After finishing our pancake lunch, we hopped a train to Sydney's Olympic Park. What we envisioned to be a bustling tourist activity was quite the contrary. The park was nearly empty, almost like the feeling of a theme park in the off season. We wandered through the entrance finding a monument area with pillars naming events and athletes from the 200 Olympics. To go into the main stadium, you have to book a tour, so instead we visited the gift shop. We then walked over to the Athletic Center. The Athletic Center is what used to be the warm up arena. The track from the main stadium was relayed into the Athletic center after the Olympics to allow for a more purposeful stadium. The warm up track was then relayed in a stadium for the junior Olympics. It was exciting for my roommate and I to run a lap on the 2000 Olympic track!!

We also visited the Aquatic center where our other friend swam in the Olympic pool. Although it was disappointing to not find a crowded, magical tourist hot spot, it wasn't until after we learned more about the stadium that we felt content. We discovered that after the Olympics memorabilia was only manufactured for a short while longer and tends to sell out almost immediately, thus explaining the lack of souvenirs. We also learned that, of course, they cannot only use the site as a tourist attraction. Because of the millions of dollars that went into building the stadium, they now use it for other activities and events. Seating was removed, and buildings were changed and renamed. The area is known as "Olympic Park", but the buildings are only the "Athletic Center", "Aquatic Center", "Telstra Stadium", and others. The official "Olympic Stadium" is now in Bejiing, and will be wherever the most current Olympics are after that. It has changed drastically, but was none-the-less an educational experience. 

Following our self-guided tour of Olympic Park, we took the train back to Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is parallel to Sydney Harbour and is the home of the Sydney Aquariam, Wildlife World, Convention Center, and Chinese Friendship Gardens. It is also the home of ferries, restaurants and shops, it is basically a suburb of Sydney. When we got to Darling Harbour, we went into the Aquarium and saw hundreds of water creatures. We found Nemo (and Dori, and Marlin too!) , stared at a crocodile, and walked under the famous tunnel while watching turtles and sharks swim over head. We even saw penguins!!! 

After the Aquarium we walked back to Wooloomooloo, the suburb where our Hostel was, and had dinner at a small Italian restaurant before retiring to the Hostel for some much needed rest. 

Brisbane, QLD, Australia: BCC Brissy Trip!

This Saturday a group of people from the Bond Christian Connection group, got together and drove up to Brisbane to spend the day. We started by walking through the Botanical Gardens, and going up to the Mt. Coot-tha lookout where we could see the whole city! It was beautiful!
The Girls

The Guys

We then drove to Jono's Church, parked the cars , and walked to the Museum of Brisbane to go up into the clock tower.

Another excellent view!

Afterwards we walked around Queen St. and did some shopping. We also took the CityCat which is the "bus" for the Brisbane river. We spent some time on Southbank walking around, and then we went back to the cars to drive to a Vegetarian restaurant for dinner! I think it's safe to say that I am in love with Brisbane.