Sydney

This past week we had off of school for “study break” before finals week begins this coming week.  Instead of staying here and studying all week, Holly, Etienne, and I saw this as a good excuse to take one last big trip before we all head home.  So we planned everything out and headed down to Sydney.  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and is located in the southern part of New South Wales.  It is over 1,000 kilometers away from the Sunshine Coast.  We decided to take a train all the way down for two main reasons, 1) it was the cheapest way to travel and 2) we thought it was a good way to see more of Australia.  So on Tuesday we left our apartment around 10:30 in the morning and took a 30 minute bus ride to Landsborough, where we jumped on a 2 hour train ride that took us into Brisbane, from there we took a 3 hour bus ride into New South Wales and to Casino, and then we finally caught our main train (that was over a 14 hour ride) and took it all the way to Central Station in Sydney.  We finally arrived a few minutes before 7:00 on Wednesday morning.  Even though the train ride was extremely long and impossible to sleep on, I must say that when it was still light out the views were astounding.  We rode through the county side all the way down the east coast of Australia.  We went through rolling green hills on the mountain sides, over rivers and lakes full of beautiful boats, and by small old towns with the cutest buildings.  I even saw some wild kangaroos hopping alongside the train in wide open fields.  The sightseeing was fun until it got dark and you couldn’t see anything out your window any more. 



Bus ride




Trains here... All Aboard!



As soon as we arrived in Sydney we went to our hostel and dropped off all of our luggage and then went off exploring the city.  We walked through the Royal Botanical Garden, which was across the street from our hostel, which took us straight to the Sydney Opera House.  As soon as the Opera House was in our view I raised my hands and belted my best opera voice, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”  We continued walking closer and taking tons of pictures.  It was so incredible to actually be at the Sydney Opera House.  You always see pictures of it, but to actually be there was so surreal.  We walked all around the Opera House and even went inside to check out the main entrance lobby but we couldn’t go any further unless we paid big bucks for a tour.  We finished walking around the Opera House and finished belting out some opera songs and then continued on our way through Sydney.

Aaaaaaaaaaa!



Sydney Opera House




Sydney Harbour Bridge



We walked through Circular Quay and The Rocks which are popular shopping places along the Sydney Harbour.  The Harbour was so beautiful!  The water was so clear for a city harbor, it was nothing like the water in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  You could see the seaweed on the bottom of the ocean bottom floors and everything.  After we walked all the way around the Harbour, we finally reached the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  We then walked all the way across the bridge where we got beautiful views of the city and the Opera House.  On the other side of the bridge we ate some lunch and then trekked back over to the main part of Sydney. 



The view from the Harbour Bridge



That night we went to buy some pizzas for dinner with our new friend that we met at our hostel Guillaume, who is from France.  We took the pizzas to one of the parks in the city and had a little picnic.  That’s when we realized we weren’t alone in the park.  All the nocturnal animals started coming out.  We saw some huge bats, rats, and possums.  At first I was really grossed out , but then I realized that Australia’s possums are way cuter than our possums back home.  These possums were so cute and fluffy and almost looked like giant squirrels or something.  They were really tame also.  We walked right up to the tree they were climbing and hand fed them and petted them.  They were so soft and felt like a koala.  After this adventure we returned to the Opera House to see it all lit up and the city lights glowing all around us.  It was such a beautiful night so we just sat down and listened to some live music and just enjoyed the majestic view around us. 



Feeding wild possums...



FOUND NEMO!



Beautiful view



The next day we ventured to the Sydney Tower Eye, which has an observation deck on the top where you can go up and view the city from above.  The tower is the second largest building in Australia and stands 1, 014 feet tall.  Before reaching the top of the tower, we watched a 4D video on Sydney which was really cool.  Then we took an elevator up to the top.  The view was amazing!  We could see the entire city below us including the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. 

Sydney Tower



Sydney



City life

After leaving the Tower, we walked all the way through the Royal Botanical Garden and out to the furthest point which is called Mrs. Macquaries Point.  At this point, you get the perfect view of the city with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the background.  It was such a beautiful view and we enjoyed relaxing in the park and just cherishing the sight. 



Where we relaxed in the park




Night time view




Sydney!



The next day Holly, Etienne, Guillaume, and I decided to go to the Australian Museum.  At the museum we learned a lot about the Aboriginals in Australia and saw a lot of their artifacts.  The museum also had a big exhibit on the minerals found in Australia, a section on “Surviving Australia” where we saw all the deadly animals found in Australia, a section on all the extinct and endangered animals in Australia, a section on the birds and insects found in Australia, a section on the dinosaurs found in Australia, and a section full of skeletons of many different organisms.  Overall, it was a pretty cool museum.  After our visit to the museum we had to head back to the train station to catch our long train ride home.  Our visit to Sydney was a huge success and a lot of fun.  It was probably the prettiest and coolest city I’ve ever been to.  Just being able to see the Opera House and everything else in Sydney seemed so unreal and spectacular.  What else can I say besides, I LOVE SYDNEY! 



 Kangaroo at the museum