Sydney
Alright I'm in Australia now. I have three weeks in Syndney and then three weeks in Brisbane. I haven't gone on any weekend trips yet; I've just been getting settled into my new classes and new room. I've done a lot of exploring around Syndey so I'll just show some of the places I have been in this post. This weekend I am going surfing. Some other students and I are getting two days of surfing instruction at a pretty cool beach three hours from here on Saturday and Sunday so you can read about that next week. 
This is my hotel room in Sydney. It has some benefits because it's located close to the middle of the city and near some restaraunts, but for the most part it's not great. They're pretty small rooms for two people and we're all pretty much living out of our bags because there is no dresser or closet. The other problem is the internet has been down a lot which is why I haven't posted in a while. But all that can be dealt with because Sydney is a really entertaining place to live for three weeks.
While we were waiting to board the plane from Wellington a bunch of us watched Finding Nemo (Righteous! Righteous!). Some day we are all going to search for P. Sherman and 42 Wallabee way, but this week Katie and I settled for going to see the fish at the Sydney Aquarium. This is a blue tang (Dori). We also saw a duckbilled platypus, sharks, clownfish, turtles, penguins, and seals among other things.
In Australia and New Zealand you only have to be twenty to gamble so one night I went to a casino. This is Katie and Doug on the escalator outside the Star city casino. That was my first time gambling in a casino so I gave blackjack a try. Fortunately I haven't gambled all my money away yet.
Sydney has two big street markets that operate on the weekends. They're a pretty good place to go buy souvenirs like boomerangs, pictures, or didgeridoos (aboriginal instruments). Katie and I visited this one, the rocks market. She bought a few things for her family and also, after much debate, decided there was room in her bags for one more purse.
The rocks is very near the harbour so afterwords we went to see the world famous Sydney Opera House. I'm sure I'll have about a million pictures of this area to show you once I return to the states.
From the harbour area also known as Circular Quay we rode a bus to this beach South of the city. This is Bondi beach, and it is one of Austalia's most popular. I think there were more people on this beach then there are in Wyoming. A few people people will laugh and say that isn't hard to do, but you get the point. I think I am really going to like hanging out on Oz's beaches especially after I learn to surf a little.
This is the Sydney Harbour bridge located very near the opera house. It's an excellent place to view the city from.
Here is a close up of the opera house. Most people don't relaize that it is tiled because they only see pictures from far away.
On the other side of the opera house from the bridge there is a stunning botanical garden with amazing views. Here is a look back at the skyline of the city. The thin one on the left is Sydney's tallest building, the Sydney tower. I believe it is the second tallest building in the Southern hemisphere next to the Sky tower in Auckland.
At the end of the botanical gardens you get to this lookout. This is the picture you'll see on all the post cards or television broadcasts you see from Sydney. I'm going to have to go back and get another picture on a nicer day.
On Tuesday several of us went to see a show at the opera house. We got some great seats at a student price of fifty Australian dollars. In the picture is Adam, Mallory, Mike, Suzie, Krista, Rebecca, me, Katie, Doug, and Nikky. We all enjoyed the show; it was a modern variation on The Elixir of Love. It was particularly appropriate for us GT kids because in the modern version the elixir ends up being coke and in the end there is a big finale around a lit up coke machine. After the show we were lucky enough to see a beautiful fireworks show over the harbour. It was a very good night for Katie's last night in Sydney. She is now on a fifteen day bus tour that travels north along the coast to various spots finishing at the Great Barrier Reef. We're back to doing our long distance thing for a while again. That's everything I have from Sydney so far. Don't forget to leave me some comments. Now that I'm two hours further away in time zones it's one of the few ways I can get some contact with the US.
This is my hotel room in Sydney. It has some benefits because it's located close to the middle of the city and near some restaraunts, but for the most part it's not great. They're pretty small rooms for two people and we're all pretty much living out of our bags because there is no dresser or closet. The other problem is the internet has been down a lot which is why I haven't posted in a while. But all that can be dealt with because Sydney is a really entertaining place to live for three weeks.
While we were waiting to board the plane from Wellington a bunch of us watched Finding Nemo (Righteous! Righteous!). Some day we are all going to search for P. Sherman and 42 Wallabee way, but this week Katie and I settled for going to see the fish at the Sydney Aquarium. This is a blue tang (Dori). We also saw a duckbilled platypus, sharks, clownfish, turtles, penguins, and seals among other things.
In Australia and New Zealand you only have to be twenty to gamble so one night I went to a casino. This is Katie and Doug on the escalator outside the Star city casino. That was my first time gambling in a casino so I gave blackjack a try. Fortunately I haven't gambled all my money away yet.
Sydney has two big street markets that operate on the weekends. They're a pretty good place to go buy souvenirs like boomerangs, pictures, or didgeridoos (aboriginal instruments). Katie and I visited this one, the rocks market. She bought a few things for her family and also, after much debate, decided there was room in her bags for one more purse.
The rocks is very near the harbour so afterwords we went to see the world famous Sydney Opera House. I'm sure I'll have about a million pictures of this area to show you once I return to the states.
From the harbour area also known as Circular Quay we rode a bus to this beach South of the city. This is Bondi beach, and it is one of Austalia's most popular. I think there were more people on this beach then there are in Wyoming. A few people people will laugh and say that isn't hard to do, but you get the point. I think I am really going to like hanging out on Oz's beaches especially after I learn to surf a little.
This is the Sydney Harbour bridge located very near the opera house. It's an excellent place to view the city from.
Here is a close up of the opera house. Most people don't relaize that it is tiled because they only see pictures from far away.
On the other side of the opera house from the bridge there is a stunning botanical garden with amazing views. Here is a look back at the skyline of the city. The thin one on the left is Sydney's tallest building, the Sydney tower. I believe it is the second tallest building in the Southern hemisphere next to the Sky tower in Auckland.
At the end of the botanical gardens you get to this lookout. This is the picture you'll see on all the post cards or television broadcasts you see from Sydney. I'm going to have to go back and get another picture on a nicer day.
On Tuesday several of us went to see a show at the opera house. We got some great seats at a student price of fifty Australian dollars. In the picture is Adam, Mallory, Mike, Suzie, Krista, Rebecca, me, Katie, Doug, and Nikky. We all enjoyed the show; it was a modern variation on The Elixir of Love. It was particularly appropriate for us GT kids because in the modern version the elixir ends up being coke and in the end there is a big finale around a lit up coke machine. After the show we were lucky enough to see a beautiful fireworks show over the harbour. It was a very good night for Katie's last night in Sydney. She is now on a fifteen day bus tour that travels north along the coast to various spots finishing at the Great Barrier Reef. We're back to doing our long distance thing for a while again. That's everything I have from Sydney so far. Don't forget to leave me some comments. Now that I'm two hours further away in time zones it's one of the few ways I can get some contact with the US.
posted by Patrick at 11:24 PM
3 Comments:
No wonder it took you so long to put up a post - you put everything up at once! I liked how it was a concise overview of everything I did in Sydney as well. It sounds kind of formal on your blog, but man, it was a lot of fun. I miss hanging out with you Americans in Oz, but this trip up the coast is way cool. Highly recommended!
PS Don't forget to send me the picture of us in front of the opera house!
All of the pictures on here are amazing. I'm actually looking forward to seeing pictures from the rest of your trip. Hope all is well.
Hey Patty,
I've enjoyed reading your blog, but I'm afraid you're going to have to come back now because you're having too much fun without the rest of us. :)
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