2 Crazy Sheilas

It’s been a while since I wrote last but this past weekend makes up for it. Friday morning (and we’re talking before the sun has come up which isn’t usual for me) Claire, I, and our friends Nichole, Matt, and Brenna got up early and caught our 6:00 a.m. flight to Sydney. I was lucky enough to get a window seat and watch as the sun came up slowly over the clouds turning them from dark, blue and gray to that pearly white.

Once we landed, grabbed our bags, and caught a train into the city we headed off to find our hostel. It was my first time staying in a hostel and if I were to be honest I was a little nervous that we’d end up with bed bugs or some other horror story. We didn’t take much time to look around as our new roomates, a couple cute guys from England, were still asleep. So instead we headed off to find the Sydney Opera House.

To get there we went through The Royal Botanic Gardens which might sound dull but was the complete opposite. Once past the iron gates there were numerous statues, fountains, streams, spiders (for those of you who know me I’m sure you know these were not my favorite) and plants of all sorts. But the most surprising feature was the Flying Foxes (also known as Fruit Bats) that were flying around in daylight and hanging in huge gangs in the trees. We made our way out of the gardens and as we turned the corner caught our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House. After taking many pictures, which we referred to as the “Mom Pictures” since that’s who would appreciate them most, we decided to take a tour of the huge famous building.

Inside we learned about the unique construction of the Opera House which was supposed to take three years and seven million dollars but instead took over a decade and cost 102 million dollars! We were able to see where many performers have come from all over the world to get the unique acoustic sounds and even saw ballet performers rehearsing.

After the Sydney Opera House we took a ferry ride as the sun set behind the Harbour Bridge and sail boats passed by lazily. After this we went up the Sydney Tower and looked out at the entire city lit up in the dark. The lights looked liked a blanket of stars going on forever.

Our second day started out early on a tour to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. We stopped, first at the ANZ Stadium where the 2000 Olympics were held and then at the Scenic World where you could explore the Blue Mountains. Much of it reminded me of the Dells in Wisconsin with ferns and rocks everywhere but it was still interesting as Claire and I took the steepest train down to the bottom.

The big attraction of the area is three rocks called The Three Sisters. In an aboriginal story the rocks are believed to be three sisters turned to stone by their father with his kangaroo bone wand to protect them from a monster called the Bunyip. After the father turned them to stone he turned himself into a lyrebird but lost his wand and spent the rest of his time digging in the ground for it.

Next we went on a little hike on a path that Charles Darwin took in 1836. We had an AMAZING view of bluffs and Wentworth Waterfall. The Blue Mountains we learned appear blue because of the vapor given off by the eucalyptus leaves. On the way back us girls took a wrong turn but luckily our tour guide got us back on track and were able to go on to see some kangaroos in a campsite that were literally only a couple feet away from us. After taking some long naps on the bus on the ride back to Sydney we all went out for some drinks and fun in the city. When we asked the person behind the desk at our hostel where a bottle shop was she told us to go down a nearby street which ended up to be filled with homeless people settling into their makeshift beds. We quickly got out of there and went on with our night.

Our last day in Sydney started off slow but by afternoon it picked up when we climbed up one of the Pylon’s from the Harbour Bridge to get an amazing view of the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the many ships passing by. Later on we took one of those ferries to the Aquarium which was one of my favorite activities. It had all sorts of aquatic animals from a lazy crocodile to sharks to seals. There were sea horses, octopus, lionfish, HUGE CRABS and colorful coral. There were sea snakes and frogs. But the best were the underground grass tunnels where sharks, rays, and sea turtles swam over our heads. We sat at the last tank and just stared for what seemed like forever as the brightest little fish swam past among the sharks. All of this watching fish made us hungry so we walked around the harbor to find a great seafood place to enjoy our last night in Sydney. It was a great weekend that went way too fast but Claire and I are planning on returning this winter (your summer).

-Miranda