Sydney

My Easter morning this year was not your average Easter morning. It was up early to catch a flight from Melbourne to Sydney. 

The flight was nice, and they gave us free chocolate Easter eggs. (A real splurge for a budget airline!). I sat next to two young siblings (I'm guessing 10 and 12). They were so funny, and reminded me of my brother and I when we traveled together at that age. They kept poking each other and driving each other crazy.  At one point the girl looked at me and said, "are we being annoying?" It was so cute of her to ask, and I said that I didn't mind, and I told her that they reminded me of my brother and I. So then I got to talking to them and the whole rest of the flight we chatted. What nice kids!! Wow. They were so interested in learning about life in the USA, and were genuinely so pleasant to talk to. (And our talking kept them from picking on each other:). Their Dad lived in Sydney and they were on their way to visit for Easter. 

I met other Aussie teens later in the week on a ferry in Sydney and they were also so friendly and interested. Go Aussie kids! I have hope for the next generation!

Anyway, after arriving to the Sydney airport, I trained into the city. My train stopped at the harbor right where the Opera House and Harbor Bridge were. Quite cool to take my first few steps in the city beside such iconic sites . 

I was staying at a really fancy (in the world of hostels) hostel, that had balcony views of the Opera House and Harbor bridge. It was in the area of town known as The Rocks, the old area of the city with lots of staircases and alleyways and cute old houses. It reminded me of Boston's NorthEnd. 

After checking into my hostel and checking out the views, I attempted to find a grocery store. No luck as it was Easter (and the next day was Easter Monday, and again, everything was closed!) These Australians take Easter seriously (or at least the days off work). Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were all holidays with nearly all stores closed. 

With little selection, I opted for  ice cream for my Easter dinner, and walked over to the Opera House to watch the sunset and enjoy my "meal". Not the most traditional Easter dinner, but I managed :)

The next day I did Sydney's free walking tour. Really informative and I learned a lot. I also met a girl from my hostel who was from Chicago. She was really cool and we ended up exploring a lot of Sydney together. 

The next day I was up early to get to the Opera house as soon as the doors opened so I could get in line for the standing room only tickets. I didn't think it'd be a complete trip to Sydney without seeing something in the Opera House. Normal tickets were way out of my price range, so when I learned about standing room only tickets, I was on it. I was lucky to be one of the first ten people to get the standing tickets for that nights performance. 

There weren't too many overly interesting things playing in the Opera House, so I opted for a Ballet, Giselle. 

That day I went and got some free freshwater pearl earrings. I saw this coupon for free earrings in a magazine (there are some positives to being the person that picks up every magazine and pamphlet you see). It had this coupon for free pearl eating valued at $100. Seemed a bit two good to be true, but I decided to try. 

So I went to the place and it was really odd. No store front and you had to go up an elevator to get to the place. Being kind of shady, I probably wouldn't have continued on, but I met two Asian ladies who were hilarious and they said we'd act like friends and we'd get our free earrings. 

After getting to an upper floor we were escorted into a double gated room. It was like a jail. But inside there were plenty of normal looking people on computers. Apparently they do mostly work with opals that are crazy expensive (which I knew nothing about, but now do)...hence all the security and cameras and bars. 

They tried to give us a big selling speech (hoping we'd buy something) but the Asian ladies were great and we managed to leave with free, beautiful earrings, and according to these ladies, they were of good quality (I would have no clue). 

So that was kind of a fun, random adventure. 

Later that day I sat out on the hostel balcony and did some trip planning. That night, I got ready for my show. Since I forgot to pack my ball gown :), I opted to wear my trusty black dress. This dress has been everywhere and worn for just about every occasion. My standard phrase is "dress it up, dress it down, wear it as a night gown". It's a definite travel essential. 

The ballet was good. Very beautiful to watch. Besides the Nutcracker, I've only ever seen one other ballet performance, Cinderella in London. While ballets are not my all time favorite type of show to watch, it always amazes me me how expression and emotion can be expressed without words...simply by movement. 

2 hours was a really long to stay standing, but I made it! Happy to have seen a production in the Opera House. 

The next day I switched hostels. (To a cheaper, more central hostel). After that I bused out to one (if not the) most famous Sydney beach, Bondi Beach. Sadly, it got overcast as we were driving there, so the beach didn't look as amazing (though the clouds did add some nice atmosphere). 

From there I did the very popular Coastal Walk. It's only about 6k, but you walk along the coast past beach after beach and it is just beautiful!! 

Beach the beaches are so full of dangerous things. Worse than sharks are actually jelly fish! (To my surprise). It's stinger season, so many of the beaches had cautions. Apparently, depending on the type, they can be quite deadly. 

As an alternative, many places along the beach had pools that filtered in the ocean water (safe from all sea creatures). I thought this was a great idea. 

That night I headed with my new friend to taco night. $1 tacos and $10 beers. Haha. It was a Cuban place though, so anything Cuban is good by me. 

The next day I took a day trip to a National Park two hours away from Sydney, The Blue Mountains. I really lucked out with the weather--it was a beautiful day. 

It was about a two hour train journey to the mountains. Once there, there's a hop on hop off buss to get throughout the park (a necessity without a car). It was just beautiful, and because the seasons are reversed, it's turning to fall here. While not a ton of deciduous trees, it was cool to see a few leaves changing, and feel the cool,crispness of fall in the air.

Most of the trees were eucalyptus trees and the park gets the name Blue Mountains from a gas that the eucalyptus emits into the air. In the sunshine it creates the blueness that the mountains seem to emit. 

I went for a long hike around the rim of the park. It was a great walk and I guess I'm "lucky" I didn't see any snakes along the way (though I've always been a bit of a snake fan, and secretly I really wanted to see at least one). 

This is a picture of the "Three Sisters," a popular spot to take pictures. My dad asked where the three brothers are...I'm not sure :)

After a long day of beautiful scenery, it was back to Sydney. 

My final day in Sydney, I took a water ferry to Manly Beach (another popular beach). Even if you don't have a destination to go to, it's recommended to go out on one of Sydney's public transport ferrys. They really provide some of the best harbor views, without paying the prices of a boat cruise. 

 Manly was a cute little town with lots to explore. I fell asleep reading on the beach (the weather was overcast) and woke up to a beautiful sunny beach. It's amazing how fast the weather changes. After ferrying back to Sydney, I did some final city explorations before it was early to bed, as I had an early flight to catch the next morning. 

Overall, I liked Sydney, but I think I preferred Melbourne. It is the big debate-- which is better. While Sydney has more sparkle and those must-see iconic spots, it was lacking in the culture and arts scene (as compared to Melbourne). I heard it best from a tour guide... Sydney is like a one night stand, Melbourne is like a long term relationship. It made me laugh, but I get it.