Oh Hey, Another Picture of the Opera House

I was pretty much going non-stop during our second week in Sydney, as can be seen by the plethora of pictures I have for you in this post. Sunday afternoon we took a bus down to Circular Quay and walked around the Harbour. I got about 50 more pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge...you'd think that I would be over seeing them, but it never really got old. I wonder if people who live in the city ever get used to it. We also went over to the Rocks Markets, which had a lot more unique items. It was way more upscale than Paddy's Markets, with local artists selling everything from jewelry to handmade candy.

 

 Looking out on the city from the Opera House.

 

The Opera House from a different angle

Monday, after our class presentations, we headed over to the Sydney Football Stadium to watch the Sydney City Roosters take on the Perth Raiders. The Roosters were pretty awful, but we still had a good time. I'm actually really starting to like rugby, I'll have to find a way to watch back in the States.

Fun Story: Before heading into the stadium we stopped at a pub, and while we were standing around talking an employee came up to us and gave us free t-shirts for the final State of Origin game. I love free stuff! 

The Roosters are in blue, the Raiders in green. The picture doesn't show it, but these guys are huge. Their legs are like tree trunks.

Fun Story #2: On the bus ride back home some local boys started talking to us and ended up coming with our group to the Regent (a pub down the street from the university). They told us they were university students, all of them around the age of 19 and 20. One of them friend requested Amanda, and on his Facebook it said he was born in 1994...definitely not 19. We had a good laugh about that one.

Tuesday night we went down to Chinatown to eat dinner, and we ended up at the Red Chili Restaurant. I got shredded pork that came with these thin crepe like things, and it was really good. I also saw on the menu that they had sweet corn bread, and I thought it sounded good, so I ordered some as an appetizer. This is what I got though.

It kind of tasted like Play-doh and had the same consistency. So for future reference, Chinese corn bread is NOT the same as traditional American corn bread. Lesson learned. Also, Red Chili was aptly named because Jacob got kangaroo stir-fry and it was quite possibly the spiciest thing I've ever tried. And it was only rated one out of three on the hotness scale. They had tissues at every table to use to blow your nose/wipe your face because the food was so spicy. Pretty extreme.

The entrance to Chinatown.

Wednesday, we had class in the morning then took a field trip to Sydney Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium. Quite frankly, these were pretty underwhelming. I mean...there was no kangaroo feeding and you had to pay to get your picture taken with a koala. But, if you were only in Australia for a week and didn't have time to go to a wildlife park, this is definitely your best bet. The Sydney Aquarium was great for one reason, and that's because they had a platypus. (They had two actually...but I have no idea what the plural form is...platypi maybe?) This was the last Australian animal that I wanted to see, and it was everything I'd ever imagined, except I thought they would be bigger. Unfortunately I didn't get a very good picture, because the little buggers were too darn fast...this is the best one I got. Trust me though, they are really cute...albeit in an odd way.

Ok, so his bill is on the left, the reddish dot is his eye. See him?

Walking through the Aquarium, we made a mission of finding and taking pictures of all the main characters of Finding Nemo. I didn't find them all, but I did pretty well.

Dory

Peach

Bloat

Nemo/Marlin in his anemone

Mine, Mine, Mine

  

The Aquarium and Wildlife World were located in Darling Harbour, which is a major tourist precinct in Sydney. We decided to walk around to see what they had to offer, but soon realized that everything was too expensive, so we hopped on a bus home and got dinner at this great little Italian restaurant down the street. Later that night we went back to the Regent to watch the final State of Origin rugby match. Our team, the New South Wales Blues, took a beating but were able to come back in the end to at least make it a close game. 

Fun Story #3: During the game, one of the Queensland players got injured. When it was replayed the entire bar, in unison, let out a groan because the guy's knee was literally bent the other way. I bet if you Google "State of Origin 2011 injury" you can get a video of it, but its definitely not for the squeamish.

Thursday evening, I became the mom of the group because I was put in charge of getting everyone down to the Taronga Zoo for our sleepover (Yes, I am 21 years old and I had a sleepover at the zoo). We rode the ferry across the Harbour and got to the Zoo just as the sun was setting. We then got to pet various animals and went on a night walk around the zoo. It was fun simply because we got to beat the crowds. Oh, and the views from the Taronga Zoo are spectacular. It's got to be the best setting for any zoo I have ever been to.

Sydney Harbour in all its glory.

I have to go see the meerkats whenever I'm at a zoo.

Friday afternoon we headed over to Bondi Beach for our surfing lesson, but the waves were too big, so we had to reschedule for Saturday morning. You may think that the waves being too big wouldn't be a problem, but you didn't see these monsters. I'm talking like 15 foot waves. We decided to sit on the beach and watch the pro surfers take on the waves so the day wouldn't be a total waste. And I also made a sand turtle. Essentially, this was my weekend to act like a kid again.

Gnarly, dude.

The work of a true genius.

Saturday morning, bright and early was take two of learning how to surf. I'd like to tell you that I stood up on my very first try, but truth is I couldn't stand up at all. The waves were actually still really strong, and I have never been more tired in my life. I did have some pretty good wipeouts though.

It was like 55 degrees outside, so I have on two wetsuits. However, it was surprisingly warm in the water.

World Famous Bondi Beach

After surfing, I met up with two of my friends from back home that I went to high school with, Amy and Sarah. They just so happened to be studying abroad in Sydney the same time as me, so we knew we had to meet up. All three of us got lunch, then started the trek along the 4 mile cliff walk from Bondi to Coogee. Once we got to Coogee we stopped at a cafe for some coffee, then stopped at a pie shop for dinner. I know it sounds gross, but they have the best meat pies here. You can get them topped with mashed potatoes, peas and gravy (I prefer no gravy). You'll here more about these pies later.

I stayed the night at Amy and Sarah's apartment, and on Sunday Sarah and I went down to Sydney Harbour because she hadn't been to the Rocks yet. (Amy was working on a paper, we tried to get her to come but she just wouldn't go for it.)

Fun Story #4: Sarah and I are pretty sure we saw Lady Gaga at the Four Seasons. Well, we at least saw her car. She was in town for a concert, and there were a bunch of news reporters and people gathered outside waiting to get a glimpse of her.

Me and Sarah by the Opera House!

 

Me and Amy on the cliff walk from Bondi to Coogee!

I had a great time with them, I only wish we had more time to hang out while we were all in Australia. I give them all the credit for introducing me to pies and what's called a Tim Tam Slam...but that's for another post.

-Haley

P.S. I'm now in Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef. It's warm here and I'm loving it. Tomorrow we're going to Green Island to do some snorkeling, and I'm unbelievably excited!