One of reasons I chose Wollongong is because it is on the east coast of Australia making relatively easy to travel to other places. I have a long, long list of places I want to visit and sights I want to see while I’m here but I can only do so much at a time. I have a trip to Brisbane planned for a couple weeks but so far I’ve been up to explore Sydney twice.
Sydney is absolutely amazing. The first time I went I went with a large group of Americans that was visiting the city for the first time was well. We saw the bridge and the opera house and it finally sunk in that I was in Australia. The bridge is pretty much just a bridge. Kind of like seeing the San Francisco bridge- it’s cool but how exciting can a bridge be? A lot of people climb the bridge but I figure if Oprah can do it then it must not be too challenging and I want a challenge while I’m over here. I’ll stick to bungee jumping. The bridge is right by the opera house-also a little different than I expected. It’s three separate buildings where I always figured it was one large one. The color of the building is a little more yellow than I expected but when it’s nighttime and it’s lit up it is absolutely stunning. I walked around inside the opera house but couldn’t see much other than the gift shop. Everyone I’ve talked to says the acoustics are amazing and I need to see a show there- bucket list? After seeing the landmarks, we wandered around Circular Quay and the Rocks. When it was dinner time it took a while to find a restaurant that suited everyone’s budgets. Sydney is even more expensive than Wollongong, but definitely worth every penny. After dinner we headed home with a long list of things to see the next time!
Yesterday was my second trip up to Sydney. I went with Anna and Liz and we met up with a couple of Australians we met in Wollongong. We walked through the Sydney gardens which feature a vast array of trees and birds that we don’t have in the states. I definitely looked like a tourist as I was snapping pictures of birds (my mom would be proud). After seeing the gardens we caught a bus into Chinatown and had an authentic (?) Chinese lunch. In the heart of Chinatown is Paddy’s Market. Paddy’s Market is known for having good deals on souvenirs. It’s hard buying souvenirs because I only have limited room in my suitcase and I packed it pretty full to begin with. After spending way too much money at Paddy’s Market, Liz and I split away from the group and went to see Olympic Park. Even though the locals told us it would be boring, I’m very glad I went. I couldn’t get over how huge it was and how all of these buildings were built just for the Olympics. They use some of the buildings still for concerts, shows, sporting events, etc.
After a packed day in Sydney we boarded the train for what we thought would be a pretty quick ride home (It takes about 1-2 hours) About halfway into our journey we found out that we were going to experience delays because of a fatality that occurred at one of the stations. I checked the news today to see what happened but haven’t found anything yet. It was a little spooky! We had to transfer to busses at one point in order to bypass the station where the death occurred and then we boarded another train home. It was definitely not your average train ride!
As much as I love exploring Sydney and want to go back a couple more times to see even more of the sights, I can’t wait to start seeing more of this beautiful country. It has so much to offer and I feel so blessed that I am able to be living over here and experiencing it all. Until next time- G’day mate.
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