Australia, Part I
Sydney
Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn, Kata, Morgan, Deirdre, and I all headed to Wellington Airport to begin our adventure. After our four hour flight that brought us two hours earlier than Wellington time, we arrived in Sydney. We stopped by our hostel, dropped off our things, and had to fill four hours before check-in time. Due to exhaustion, we picked some nice cement blocks to nap on right on the Sydney Harbour for about an hour following breakfast. We got a cold Magner’s Irish Cider at one of Sydney’s oldest pubs and then checked into the hostel for a nice, long nap. Once rested up, we got up and got dinner at a bar next door that was doing trivia. Our team, the Wet Wellys, scored second to last, just in front of a team that left early. I still think we did pretty well. I chowed down on a crocodile pizza, just to confirm my being in Australia.
The next day, we took a half hour ferry ride to Manly Beach. The beach is huge and awesome. There are loads of surf shops and restaurants all around for a perfect surf town. (Look up the Manly Beach shark video that went viral two days after we were there.) We got lunch and three mai tais each, which added a nice buzz to our souvenir shopping that followed. I bought some Australian goodies, including a small didgeridoo (which I later discovered isn’t real). We ferried back and had dinner on the terrace of our hostel, which included a kangaroo kebab, further proving that I am in Australia.
Friday we caught a train to Newtown, which is a neat college town (so kind of weird). We hung around for a few hours going in their unique stores, coffee shops, and had lunch. We headed back to Sydney central and picked up some of the cheap, but potent boxed wine that I’ve heard so much about. 5 litres of wine was $16, so $4 each. There was also two half bottles and half of a smaller box in the free fridge of our hostel, so naturally, I grabbed those. Roughly 8 bottles of wine later, we were roaming the city, attempting to find a 24 hour pancake diner in the Rocks. This included several detours, such as taking a dip in Sydney Harbour, climbing a bridge, tree, etc. We headed home after our chocolate syrup covered, ice cream drenched pancakes.
Yesterday, we struggled to get up for our 9 o'clock tour of the Sydney Opera House. Kata and I were the only ones that succeeded. The tour took us through most of the opera house, including four of its theatres. We saw some of the smallest theatres, gradually got bigger until we were in the largest one. Despite being told not to take any pictures inside the theatres, I was able to snap one in the biggest one, which was quite stunning. We learned the story of how the design was chosen and constructed. Following the tour, we booked a whale watching tour for only $35. We were able to spot around 5 whales, a seal, and loads (or heaps? heh. heh.) of albatross. We were on the water for around 2 hours. Later, Morgan, Deirdre, and I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (the free alternative to the $200 bridge climb). All in all, very satisfied in my adventure to Sydney.
Cairns
Morgan, Deirdre, and I caught our plane to Cairns at 6:40 this morning. Kata stayed in Sydney because her flight home to Germany is in two days. We checked into our hostel, got breakfast at an overpriced and overrated cafe, took a nap, walked around a bit, got dinner, and ultimately ended up getting a free didgeridoo lesson at a shop that sells them. Really neat! I will definitely save up and purchase a nice one the next time I pass through Australia.
