The City Round II

It’s been so long since I’ve written about what we’ve been doing that I almost forget all the activities we’ve been up to. I know that we got to Sydney on Friday afternoon and checked into our hotel on Darling Harbour and then went to Hunter Valley on Saturday. Sunday we walked in whipping winds to Circular Quay where mom caught her first glimpse of the Opera House. Then we headed toward the outdoor markets in the Rocks and looked around. We got some corn from a street vendor and then hopped on a bus toward the Sydney Football Stadium. We had purchased tickets to a rugby game where the Sydney Roosters would play the Penrith Panthers, a team that had been on a five game win streak. The Roosters (the worst team in the NRL) surprisingly pulled off a victory and we had a ton of fun cheering them on in the process. The stadium was not even a little bit crowded. In fact, I think the total number of people attending was less than a full Fenway Park, somewhere around 12,000 people showed up. Everyone there, however, was a true fan; completely decked out in Rooster red and screaming their heads off in true Aussie fashion.

Monday, we had booked a trip to the famous Blue Mountains. I don’t know what it is about me and my mom, but I think we attract people who can’t hold down their lunch. Half an hour into our journey a little kid got sick on the bus making the rest of the drive absolutely miserable. Luckily, most of our trip was planned for outside and it was amazing. The Blue Mountains are home to another amazing Australian nature made landmark- the Three Sisters. The Sisters are Australia’s second most visited sight and were incredible. They are three freestanding columns in a row. Across from them are other sights such as Orphan Rock and Solitary Mountain. Solitary Mountain, according to our tour guide, is same in size to Ayer’s Rock in Alice Springs. The Blue Mountains get their name from the constant blue haze that is given off by the millions of eucalyptus plants that live in the valley. The leaves refract the sunlight and create a bluish fog, which was unreasonably obvious on the cloudless day that we went. After we saw the Three Sisters, we got back on the bus and headed to Scenic World. Whilst at Scenic World, we took three cool rides in the valley. The first was a Skyway, which is essentially a horizontal gondola that has a glass floor; it was cool, but not my favorite part of our trip. After we ate lunch, we boarded the Scenic World Railway. Our bus driver had told us that the railway was one of the steepest in the world at 52 degrees vertically, but honestly what does that even mean? Well, it means that when you get in the train you are almost laying down in your seats and then when the train goes it is practically straight up and down. The ride was all of a minute long, but it was so cool. Everyone was screaming because the train goes through caves and is pitch black and going down a steep mountainside. Next, we walked through the Blue Mountains national park and saw a lot of cool artifacts left from the mining that used to be done there. The last ride of our trip was the Cableway, just a cable car, but still fun. We left the Blue Mountains and stopped in a town called Leura to look around. Then we drove through Sydney’s Olympic Park before finally getting dropped off for a boat ride into Circular Quay. They views from the boat were spectacular.

Tuesday I got to sleep in and it was awesome. After I finally rolled out of bed at 10:45am, mom and I started walking. We walked about 5 miles or so starting from our hotel to the Opera House. We looked all around the iconic building and then walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens and sat on Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair. For lunch, we had a little picnic while mom inhaled her first kebab- an experience that will not soon be forgotten considering she called it “the best ‘sandwich’ she’s ever had.” After fueling up, we walked another few miles over the bridge and into Luna Park. Luna Park is very similar to New York’s Coney Island because it is an old time amusement park, but it still runs and people love it. We then took a ferry back to Circular Quay and looked around the Rocks again. We came back to the hotel after a drink at Jenna’s favorite bar, Lowenbrau. Since coming to Australia I had a few goals. One was to get an Australian accent, which I didn’t do. Another was to learn about myself and have as much fun as possibly. And the last was to get a haircut because my hair was too long even before I left in February. I know you’re thinking this is completely random, but it’s not. You see, after we walked a lot we came back to the hotel to relax and we had a brilliant idea to let mom cut my hair. It actually didn’t come out that bad and it made for a good story! We went to dinner at the Hard Rock Café and made friends with our Italian waiter Carmine. Tomorrow is our last day in Australia and we have quite a mission.

We woke up on Wednesday morning to a overcast sky, which was unfortunate because we were planning on going to Bondi Beach for the day. Bondi is one of the most famous beaches in Australia because it is situated in Sydney. It takes about half an hour to get to Bondi Beach by train and bus. Mom and I got there, walked down to the water, and just had a look around. It was really cool to be there in the winter because Bondi is host to a Winterfestival and there was an ice skating rink on the beach and a ski hut. We had lunch down there then headed back into the city for some last minute souvenier shopping. I had planned on taking mom to a seafood restaurant right in Darling Harbour, but apparently it had closed down between March and now. We ended up eating a disappointing last dinner in Chinatown, but it was ok. Tomorrow is Thursday and we have to be in a shuttle to the airport by 7:15am. It definitely hasn’t hit me that I’m leaving yet. Prepare for the most sentimental post ever tomorrow.