It Smells Like Money!

My last week in Sydney was very low key, which was a welcome reprieve after my action-packed second week. I didn’t really do anything exciting until Wednesday, July 13, when we visited the Olympic Stadium for a field trip. I love watching the Olympics, so it was cool to see the entire compound where the 2000 Games took place.  At one point in the tour, we got to walk out into the stadium from the tunnel with simulated crowd noise. Even though the crowd noise was fake, it felt awesome to walk out onto the grass of the 80,000 seat stadium. I even got to stand on the actually Olympic medal podiums!

Going for the gold!

 Thursday night, our last night in Sydney, we went out to dinner at the SkyTower. It’s the tallest building in Sydney and we ate at the revolving restaurant at the top. We had great views of the city, and we were able to pick out all of the different areas we’d been to the past 3 weeks. It was a great way to end our time in Sydney.

Fun Story: The restaurant was buffet style, and we all stuffed ourselves. There was a dessert bar and I, of course, went there first. At the end of our meal, all of us were just sitting there, groaning because we had eaten too much. I’ll admit it, there was a 5 minute window where I thought I was going to be sick and was deeply regretting that last scoop of honeycomb ice cream. But, no worries, we all made it out alive.

 No Furbies allowed on the airplane. Or old school Gameboys.

Friday morning, bright and early, we got a van to the Brisbane Airport to fly up to Gold Coast. We stayed in a town called Surfer’s Paradise, which is basically a giant tourist trap. They have a bunch of clubs, a Ripley’s Believe It or Not and a Hard Rock Café. While we were there, we took a tour of Palazzo Versace and had afternoon tea there. The entire hotel is decked out in Versace furniture and the employees wear Versace designed uniforms. They even have a signature scent that permeates throughout the hotel. I like to say it smells like money. We got to go into one of the condos and the Imperial Suite. If you want to drop 3,000 a night, I highly recommend staying there.

 The lobby of Palazzo Versace. That chandelier is from Versace's house.

Saturday we went to MovieWorld, one of the many theme parks in Gold Coast. It really wasn’t much, they had two big rollercoasters and the rest of the rides were kind of lame. Australian theme parks just don’t compare to the ones we have in the States. That night we did some club-hopping, which was a lot of fun, but it was nothing too crazy. Sunday was just a lazy day, we walked around the town and ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe

We're tough.

Fun Story: In Australia, meat pies are kind of a big thing and you get them topped with mashed potatoes, peas and gravy. In Gold Coast, there were three locations of a chain called Pie Face…and we all became slightly obsessed with it. We ate there twice in one day, and yes, I am slightly ashamed of that. It’s just so good. I’m going to open one up in the States, I am currently taking applications for business partners. We’re going to be rich.

I just got back from my two day trip on the reef, and let me tell you it was amazing. I’ll save the details for my next post. I only have two days left here, and tomorrow I’m going to do something crazy, but you’ll just have to wait and see what it is!

-Haley

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!

The Dingo Ate Your Baby

I’m going to give you fair warning, the pictures you are about to see in this blog post will most likely cause you to look up how to illegally obtain a koala or wallaby.  

Prior to arriving to Sydney, I had booked a trip to travel to the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains. (Fun fact: the eucalyptus oil from the trees that cover the mountains is what gives them their blue tinge.) There was probably about 30 of us that went, and we took a bus about an hour outside of Sydney to our first destination of Featherdale Wildlife Park. Hands down, this is the best wildlife park I’ve been to since arriving in Australia. They had every native Australian animal you could imagine, and you got to pet and feed koalas, kangaroos and wallabies. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this trip, its that when college kids are presented with the opportunity to pet something cute and fluffy, we revert back to age 5. I saw grown men that were as giddy as school girls when it was their turn to take a picture with the koalas.

You can't tell, but I just fought off a whole busload of tourists to get this picture.

He's running away from me because I only pretended to have food.

And now for a marathon of Australian animal pictures.

 

What a cute little wallaby.

 Tasmanian Devil...doesn't look like the cartoon I grew up with at all.

A giant hamster...just kidding, it's a wombat.

 

 How could you accuse that face of eating a baby?

  I honestly don't remember what kinds of birds these are, I just thought they looked so cute sitting together.

 

 I believe this is a quokka.

Ok, this isn't cute at all, but I had to show you what a cassowary looks like. It's believed to be a living dinosaur.

Our next stop was Wentworth Falls, and after a good 30 minute hike we headed up the road to Leura for lunch. It was such an idyllic little town…it kind of reminded me of Mayberry. But slightly more refined and more expensive. Actually, Don Knotts wouldn’t fit in at all there. You get what I’m going for though. I had the best quiche Lorraine at a little café there and then we stopped at Josophan’s Chocolates. I picked out a chili chocolate, a margarita one (it even had salt on it) and a cinnamon one. All 3 were delicious. Oh, I also picked up some dark chocolate with honeycomb pieces to bring home, so Mom, Dad and Ellen you have that to look forward to.

 I'm king of the world!

 I wish I had 10 more of each of those.

Our last stop was Katoomba, which is the ‘big’ city near the Blue Mountains. There we saw the Three Sisters, which is a rock formation with an Aboriginal legend behind it. We also hiked down what seemed like 1,000 steps, just so we could ride an old mine train back up. The train, at its steepest point, was at a 57 degree angle.

Legend has it that these are three sisters that were turned to stone to be protected from some kind of monster.

I just realized that my last post did not have a 'Fun Story' section in it, so I'll remedy that by posting two now.

Fun Story: As we were wandering around the Rocks, looking for the Australian Hotel (which was where we were going to eat...hotel=bar), I saw a rat run across the street. It wasn't like a New York City size rat, but it was pretty big. Oh, big cities and their vermin problems.

Fun Story #2: The morning I left for the airport, Mom was rushing around the house packing odds and ends to my suitcase just in case I needed them. One was a package of sheets in case there weren't any at the hostels I was staying at. I finally decided to get them out in Sydney, and when I opened it up it was full of 3 pillowcases and no sheets. It's the thought that counts though. Thanks, Mom!

That about wraps it up for my Blue Mountains trip, I'll be posting about my second week in Sydney soon!

-Haley

P.S. For those wondering about the title of this post, it is a classic line from a Seinfeld episode. If you need a refresher, click on the link to watch it. http://youtu.be/ghCTZF61ey0

P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

On June 27^th, at approximately 12:00 PM, it finally hit me that I was in Australia. It was around this time that I looked out the plane window and saw the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. I actually laughed out loud, slightly in disbelief of what I was seeing. I had finally made it.

After collecting our bags, we hopped on a bus and traveled to the University of New South Wales, where we’re staying until July 15^th. The campus is about 15 minutes by bus outside of Sydney in the Kensington neighborhood. It’s actually a fairly nice campus, a lot of the buildings are architecturally interesting, and they have this long promenade that is lined with academic buildings on either side. It’s quite picturesque. I have my own room here, which is nice, because I finally feel like I’m not living out of a suitcase. Our dorm is set up kind of like a hotel, there’s a courtyard in the middle that all of the rooms connect/look out on. There’s no roof over the courtyard, which is nice when its sunny…not so nice when it’s raining.

That night we went across the street to Pinocchio Sushi to eat, and I had the greatest 10 dollar meal ever. Well, at least it felt like that…because decent 10 dollar meals are hard to find, especially when it comes to dinner. My meal consisted of a starter of miso soup and two small salads. One was a potato salad, the other a spicy cabbage. Next, seasoned rice and teriyaki chicken was brought out, and then topped off with a 5-piece spicy tuna avocado roll. I know some of you may be thinking this is highly uninteresting…but the fact that I got all of this for 10 dollars blew my mind. So that’s why I’m describing my dinner to you in my blog.

The next day, the 28^th, we had class from 1-5, which is kind of a bummer. It’s easy to forget that I’m actually here for school, because we manage to fit in so much sight-seeing when we’re not in class. Anyways, after class we took a bus to Coogee Beach and had dinner down there. It gets dark pretty early here, because it is winter, so we weren’t able to go down to the beach, but I made it back there recently and its really nice…but that’s for another post.

The 29^th was the first day we made the trek to the city. That morning, we got up early and took the bus down to Paddy’s Markets. Basically, if you’re looking for cheap souvenirs/jewelry/clothes this is the place to be. There were easily over 100 different stalls, and about 75% of them sell ‘genuine’ UGG boots. Funny how all of the labels had different designs and fonts...but we asked the shop owners and they assured us they were real. And I’m the Queen of England.

This is the building Paddy's Markets are housed in. There's a shopping mall on the second floor.

Later that day, after class, we jumped on a bus headed for Circular Quay, then walked over to the historic area of Sydney called the Rocks. It’s a really cool area, with cobblestone streets and historic buildings that house restaurants, shops, etc. We had to interview business owners and tourists for class…which I think would be very difficult to do back in the States. Everyone is just so friendly here; starting up conversations just seems to come naturally to them. We talked to one guy who was part of this new initiative that takes vacant buildings and puts designers, cafés and high-end stores into them for 6 months. It’s called the Rocks Pop-Up Project, and they’re using it to try and attract more locals to the area since it tends to be touristy. I really like the concept, and the business major side of me is trying to think of where we could use this back home. I’m thinking Broad Ripple or maybe downtown in the big City Market building?

This is probably my favorite area of the city.

After finishing up our assignment we explored the Harbour(notice the British spelling), and of course marveled at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from up close. I’m pretty sure I have pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from every angle imaginable. As if I would forget what it was like to see them in person.

 

When you get close to it, you can actually see that the sails are covered in different shades of white tiles. And yes, we all touched the Opera house...we just felt like we had to.

 

A shot of the Harbour Bridge taken while standing in the Rocks.

Later that night we went out with some local students from our dorm to a club in Bondi Junction called The Eastern. It was three levels with a different DJ on each floor. There was a big group of us that went, and it was a really good time…but I stayed up way past my bedtime that night. I’m getting too old for that kind of stuff…just kidding.

Thursday we had a field trip to the North Head Quarantine Station in Manly. To get there we drove across the bridge, so we all got kind of excited about that. It was pretty much just like driving across any other bridge…but nevermind that. The Quarantine Station was used to decontaminate ships and their passengers before they could go through to the city. It was kind of creepy because people had to stay there for months if they had the flu or something like that, and some would die in the hospital. It’s now been renovated and they are using some of the buildings as conference centers and hotel rooms. Don’t know if I’d ever stay there, especially knowing about the whole people dying there part.

 

The people from that Discovery Channel ghost show came here and saw ghosts in the shower room. They would apparently put chemicals in the water that would burn people's skin because that was the only way they knew how to get rid of germs.

 

This crow kept following us around...it looked really ominous sitting on top of the hospital roof.

We called it an early night on Friday because the next morning we were leaving for a trip to the Blue Mountains. I’ll save that for the next post though!

-Haley

P.S. P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney does not exist. So don’t believe everything Finding Nemo tells you. And if you’re curious, yes, I have watched Finding Nemo since I’ve been in Australia, and I found myself analyzing where the dentist’s office was located. Based on the view from the window, I’d say his office is in Manly.

Phillip Island and The Great Ocean Road

 I’d like to preface this post with an ode to Australian animals. Yes, we all know they have kangaroos and koalas (I saw both on my Great Ocean Road trip), but did you know they also have penguins? Not just any ordinary penguins, they’re fairy penguins. Penguins are already cute, but shrink them down to about a foot tall and you’ve got something that rivals the cuteness of Nani and Jake...and I think they're pretty darn cute.

To sum it up…Australian animals > American animals

While we were in Melbourne we took a day trip out to Phillip Island, home of the world famous Penguin Parade. Every night, around sunset, these little fairy penguins come back to their homes after spending all day out at sea. They live in nests that are up the hill from the beach, so you get to see them waddle their way home. The little guys were mere feet away from me. You could hear them too. Who knew such a loud noise could come from such a tiny bird?

If you don't think this is cute, something must be wrong with you.

I know I’ve already mentioned it in this post, but the wildlife in Australia is phenomenal. I can’t think of anywhere else in the world where you can be close enough to a wild penguin to pet it…except maybe Antarctica. The natural environment here never ceases to amaze me.

A stretch of coastline at Phillip Island.

Phillip Island is also famous for an outcropping of rocks called The Nobbies. 

Australians typically pick very simple names for things, like The Nobbies.

Another thing that I found interesting was that the entire park is self-sufficient. They don’t take any money from the government, which is kind of a novel idea when it comes to natural parks. It was a really well maintained park, so they must be doing something right.

Now, for the Great Ocean Road.

The morning of the 26^th, Amanda, Jacob and myself went on a Great Ocean Road tour. The Great Ocean Road was a government project, created so that returning soldiers from the war would have work to do. The road winds along cliffs and of course, the ocean.

 I actually helped with the construction of the road too.

Our first stop was in Torquay (pronounced tore-key) where the world famous Bells Beach is. This is where the Ripcurl Pro surf competition is held, and is also the town where surf companies Ripcurl and Quiksilver were founded.

  Bells Beach, actually kind of dangerous to surf there because of all the rocks.

We then traveled through the towns of Anglesea and Airey where we saw a house that was in Mad Max (they really like that movie here) and this house that was built on a pole to prevent wildfires from damaging it.

This one bedroom, one bath house just sold for 3.2 million.

Fun Story: Next was the town of Lorne where they have an annual Pier to Pub race. People run down the pier, jump off, swim to shore then run to the pub and finish a pint of beer. That’s Australia for you.

In Kennett River we saw wild koalas in the eucalyptus trees, parrots that would eat out of your hand, and a kookaburra. This was the first time I saw a koala while I was in Australia, and the fact that it was in the wild and not in a zoo is awesome. Oh, I also forgot to mention that we saw wild kangaroos that morning too.

 

Cute little guy, just sitting up there eating.

 

 I was a little nervous when it landed on my head, hence the awkward pose.

 

 I'm not sure if he is sitting in an old gum tree or if he is laughing. (Anyone remember that song?)

 

We stopped at Cape Patton lookout and I got some great pictures there.

 

The water is so blue!

Wish we had views like this in Indiana...

Lunch was at the Cape Otway lighthouse, and I’m fairly certain that the winds there were 100 miles an hour…or should I say kilometers. Either way, it was windy and cold. I did get this spectacular shot though.

 Here's the lighthouse.

 Here's the view.

Our last two stops were the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. You know the expression, “It took my breath away?” Well, when I rounded the corner and first saw the 12 Apostles, I finally understood why people say that. All three of us just stood there, awestruck at how amazing the scene before us was.  It’s one of those things that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.

 There's actually only 9 Apostles...12 just sounds better.

Loch Ard Gorge was just as spectacular and it was a great way to end the tour. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Fun Story: We saw a double rainbow at Loch Ard Gorge. If you're not familiar with the Double Rainbow Youtube video, I suggest you look it up, and then you'll realize why we got a kick out of this.

Double Rainbow all the way! (You can kind of see it. It's to the right of the first one.)

I know I’m behind in my posts, so I hope all of these pictures help make up for that fact. I promise to update you on my first week in Sydney as soon as I can. We just finished up a project for class, so I should have a lot more time on my hands. I’m going to a rugby game tonight to celebrate the 4^th of July…one of the teams is red, white and blue so hopefully I’ll feel a little at home.

-Haley

P.S. By the way, I just discovered that you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. I highly suggest doing this...because they look 10 times better. And you can actually see the double rainbow.