We went with our group on Saturday to Sydney. The plane ride that morning was a little rough because we had been out pretty late celebrating Sabrina’s 20th birthday the night before. Once we got into Sydney we took a shuttle to our hostel the YHA Sydney Harbour hostel. At first glance it looked very strange because you go in the doors into this archeological dig site before you go upstairs to the check-in and main area and then go back down some other stairs to get down to our room.
Our room was really fun in the hostel. We got the biggest room with 3 bunks for 6 of us: Taylar, Sabrina, Hannah, Daniel, Mark and I. It was a great group to share the room with. Every night was filled with laughter and jokes.
The first night we got to walk down through Circular Quay to the Sydney Opera house to do a little sightseeing and take some awesome photos of the area. It was really beautiful because we went right before sunset so the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house were spectacular with lights.
Following our sightseeing we went to the Sydney Observatory where we got to watch some neat 3D star movies, tour the museum area and we got to see Saturn, rings and all, through the oldest telescope in Australia.
Sunday morning we went to Paddy’s Market. This was a huge market with lots of fun and reasonably cheap souvenirs. I was glad that I hadn’t bought very much in Adelaide for souvenirs because most of the stuff was the same and was way less expensive. Everyone seemed to find a lot of good things to take back as remembrance items from Australia.
After the market everyone was pumped up for the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. The bridge is an international symbol of Australia and it is “the largest single arch span bridge in the world.” I was a little worried about the bridge climb because I had been having a lot of pain from the pinched nerve in my back but I decided that it was an opportunity that there was no way I was going to miss.
For the bridge climb we got all dressed up in these really attractive blue jumpsuits and safety gear. At the beginning of the bridge climb we were a little skeptical because we were walking along wooden planks on the edge of the bridge that were super skinny… then we got to the actual climb. It was actually so much fun. At the start and end there were these sets of latters we had to climb up and down and then duck and squeeze through some small areas (the latters were probably the worst part because you couldn’t see very far ahead of you to know when the latters would end. Once we got to the actual edge of the arch that we walked along, there were steps along it where we walked to the very top and then back down again. We were kind of sad that we weren’t allowed to take cameras onto the bridge because it was an amazing 360* view of the harbour, but we did take a lot of breaks where the leader took pictures of us (except they were super expensive). At the top of the arch we were 450 feet above the water. By the end of the bridge climb we had climbed over 1,390 stairs! What a workout! HAHA. Everyone was saying that their calves were sore… but I didn’t think mine hurt very bad because of the extreme leg and back pain that I have been in. I was surprised that I made it through the climb without much pain, but that night and the next day were pretty horrible, where I was close to tears in pain. (I am getting really tired of this, but I don’t think it’s going to get any better because the chiropractor said that the misplaced disc in my back would take 3 to 6 months to heal.
After the bridge climb we all rested a little before we got on a ferry to take us to our farewell dinner at a really nice restaurant at Darling Harbour. I had some delicious swordfish for dinner with some garlic flat bread. It was one of the best meals that I’ve had while abroad… and the best part, it was paid for!
On Monday morning a smaller group of us went on the Sydney sightseeing bus to Bondi Beach while a few other girls went surfing and skydiving for the day. Bondi Beach was beautiful! I was surprised how many people were actually swimming and surfing in the water though. The group went on a scenic walk around the rocks on the edge of the beach, but I chilled out on a bench and took a short nap in the sun because I wouldn’t have been able to walk that far. (I tell you though; we really lucked out on weather! It was supposed to rain the whole time while we were in Sydney, but we only had once short time where it dumped for like 15 minutes one day and then the sun came back out.
After exploring around Bondi beach we hopped back on the Sydney Sightseeing double decker bus to continue on the narrated tour through the city. It was fun to hear some different stories and see the sights that we wouldn’t see by just walking around down town. One thing we learned was where the name Kangaroo supposedly came from. They said that when the British white men invaded Australia they pointed at this hopping creature asking what it was. The Aboriginal people yelled out Kangaroo which actually meant that they didn’t understand, but I guess Kangaroo stuck because they couldn’t come up with a different name. We continued on the tour until we reached the Botanical Gardens where we walked around and went to see the Queens chair built into the rock.
Our last night in Sydney we went out to another nice dinner with everyone there to celebrate before people went home to pack and say goodbye. I had to say goodbye to everyone before people went to sleep because I had to catch a cab the next morning at 4 am to go to Christchurch, New Zealand.
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