Where to even begin? Sorry, I was planning on getting this done right when I got back from my semester break adventures but schoolwork and exhaustion and lots of procrastination have gotten in the way. Beware this is going to take awhile.
So on the 25th of September, after a long day of trains, busses, and a flight, Tigerair got Erin and I (She's from Missouri) successfully to Sydney. Eventually we arrived at Elephant Backpackers, our hostel for the next few days. It was interesting to say the least. Definitely not a 5 star resort (or really even 2 star) is all I'll mention about that, but I guess it's just a place to lay your head at night. The first day we spent all morning walking around the city. We had met up with another friend from Montana, so the three of us walked around the Quay to shop a bit, saw the Opera House, and walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park. That night we decided that we were going to get dressed up in our Sunday best and go to a nice dinner, complete with champagne and gelato for desert, before going to an actual show at the Opera House. We ended up seeing Anything Goes, a musical held in one of the smaller theaters. Before the show, they take you to the back of the opera house for drinks and a view of the Sydney Harbour and Harbour Bridge all lit up at night. Gosh is it totally a breathtaking view! About the show, well I'm not a huge theatre person but it was easily the best performance I've ever/will ever see. How do I get to do that for a living because it was spectacular (watch them for a living not actually being in them because I can't walk without tripping let alone tap dance, sing, act, etc). It was so awesome. Please go sometime and at least see the inside because that alone is stunning.
So day two. The rain couldn't stop us and we spent the day walking around (you'll notice this is a really common theme) and it started at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, a lookout area that had an awesome view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and flowers in the Botanical Gardens. A few gazillion steps later we went across the Harbour Bridge and saw the Olympic Park swimming pool (nerdy swimmer moment + saw the Ian Thorpe aquatic center!!) plus Luna Park, a creepy kids amusement park that I would never ever step foot into as a child simply because you have to walk through a clownish looking face's mouth to get in... A nap in the Gardens later, we decided t about 5 hours of walking straight was enough and headed back to the hostel to grab dinner and some much needed sleep.
Day three. The coolest thing about Sydney is that within about an hour you can be on the beach, in the city, or in the mountains hiking. Since we had only done city so far, we spent all day on a tour in the Blue Mountains an hour or two outside of the main city. I love the city but this was a bit more my element so I was in heaven. It's kind of hard to describe them without pictures but google them. The only other true mountains I've been in are the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee but these made them look like mounds of dirt. They extended as far as the eye can see and are home to a famous set of rocks, the Three sisters. There's a super cool but long story that goes along with them according to Aboriginal history. In the mountains there's a place called Scenic World, which has a skyway cable car take you past a waterfall and the Three Sisters, a cable way to take you down into a valley to walk around in thick rainforest, and finally is home to the steepest incline railway in the world to take you back to the top to overlook the valley once again. To end the tour, we quick stopped at the Olympic Park, home to the 2000 Olympics. Finally we took a yacht down the river for about an hour and got to see the bridge, Opera House, and city skyline as the sun was setting and finally all lit up. Also a common theme, every part of this city just takes your breathe away.
Day four. After a riding the struggle bus for a while, we figured out how to take the bus to Bondi Beach (please get your head out of the sand if you've never heard of it, supposedly it's one of the most gorgeous and famous beaches in the world). Filled with graffiti telling sunbathers to take care of our oceans, we laid on the crowded back for a few hours, finally meeting up with another friend, Lina, from USC (but actually Austria) where we split up and Lina and I went to Bondi Ink (No tattoos for either of us just fangirling moments since it's one of my favorite Australian TV shows) and walked down the coast. Within a two hour walk, we came across around 5 other beaches, saw a few pools right along the ocean, complete with waves crashing into it while you're lap swimming (another nerd swimmer pool moment), and barefoot rock climbing to get to the bus stop. The trip back into the city wasn't exactly smooth sailing either. Catching a bus, running through the train station to catch a train, running from the train station all the way to the harbour after missing our next bus, we finally caught a ferry to Manly to catch the sunrise. Although we walked an hour, uphill in a circle and ended right back where we got off the ferry, we caught a decent sunset. Supposedly Justin Bieber was in Manly at the same time but we couldn't find him so we gave up and took a ferry back to the Quay in Sydney, complete with more gorgeous views of the city at night.
Day five. Up before the sun, our plane took off for Cairns (don't say the i or r or Australians will laugh in your face, been there). So we were all kind of sad that Sydney was pretty much long pants and sweater weather but this was not Cairns. It's like stepping into a sauna and you can pretty much drink the air it's so hot a humid. After checking into our hostel, Corona Backpackers, we took the day to just explore the city. This one was definitely not what I expected it to be. It was pretty small, had that tropical, hippy feel but the major let down was that there's no beaches unless you're willing to sit on the bus for a stupid length of time. It sits on the ocean but it's been so overused by tourism, fishing, etc. that it's been destroyed and is more muck than sand. Not to sound like an environmentalist but it's' so sad to see such natural beauty being destroyed. The town centers around the lagoon, a pool right along the ocean. We spent a majority of our day relaxing in the sunshine and browsing the shops before turning in.
Day six. Apparently we decided that it had been too long since we risked our lives doing something stupid so we caught an early shuttle to AJ Hackett, home to a 164 foot bungy tower. I felt like such a baby since I had zero fear of jumping out of a plane just over a month earlier but climbing up the 200 steps to the top of the tower my stomach was in knots. Thank goodness there was so many steps up so basically I was too lazy to walk all the way back down and found jumping to be a quicker option. It's easy to say "it's not that scary" once you're not up there and thinking that they use all this high tech equipment but no. You literally have a towel that you can probably buy at Target around your ankles and and rope outside of that that they loop a rope through. A little more reassuring is the harness you wear in case something happens but you totally forget about that part. Finally you waddle your way to the end of a plank like some pirate movie and they have you spread your arms, look at the horizon line to show you how absolutely horrifyingly high you are, and count down from 5. Easiest tip, don't overthink it and just go. You fall, your stomach goes into your throat and before you know it your arms are being dipped in the water and you're rising again, getting that feeling every time you drop until it's finally over and you take out the guy in the boat trying to get you down. The whole time you get a GoPro strapped to your arms to capture any tears/screams on the way down. Super super fun and such an adrenaline rush, a feeling I've learned to absolutely love. Overall, skydiving is more of my cup of tea but if you're looking for a bit more fear a cheaper alternative, bungy jumping is for you. Seriously do it at least once in your life. I have the video on my Facebook as well if you really want to see what its like. We spent the night watching street performers and browsing through the Night Markets.
Day seven. IT'S GREAT BARRIER REEF DAY HECK YES. I've never looked forward to something as much as swimming around in the sun all day seeing pretty fish. This is my definition of a perfect day. Up early, we loaded the boat with about 100 other people and set out on the 2 hour trip to the outer reef. We were lucky with the weather since it stay sunny but it was definitely choppy. A majority of the boat ended up in the back with sea sick tablets trying to hold down their breakfasts. Luckily all my time on boats must have paid off since I was able to walk/stumble around the boat the whole time without feeling sick (Thanks mom and dad & lake life). We decided to do an introductory dive which is basically when you go in groups with an instructor and they can take you down to up to 60 feet about for half an hour. We were the last group to go, giving me a full 2 hours out snorkeling the reef. Armed with an underwater camera, I set off and practically had to be dragged back in to dive. Although the colors aren't as bright as some Pinterest pictures would have you think, partly due to photoshop and partly due to how the reef is slowly being destroyed and disappearing, it was still beautiful. On our dive, they had us all sitting, set up with equipment and finally gave us the signal to walk down and jump into the water. I pretty much couldn't because the tank weighed as much as me. Once you struggle into the water, after you realize the tank now feels weightless, they have you hold onto a rope and run through some drills to make sure you can clear your mask, equalize the pressure in your ears, and clear your mouthpiece. Once you give them the go ahead, you go down. On the way down your arms are linked with the instructors to help you get a feel for everything. After a bit, he sets you free to swim on your own. Down a bit deeper, we were able to see a stingray, a nemo fish (yes I know that's not a real name for the fish), and follow a sea turtle. This was easily the coolest and most awesome thing I've ever done. I want to get certified when I get back but what's the point when you live a solid 20 hours from the ocean? If you have any justifications, please let me know. Once we got back to the surface, struggled up the ladder back onto the boat, they served a buffet lunch on the boat. After I headed out for another few hours to snorkel, not being able to see why anyone would want to spend the day on the boat when they could be out in the water. I ended up finding another sea turtle and followed it for awhile before taking off to explore again. When we were all called back to the boat to head back to Cairns, we were all exhausted. Seriously even for me, swimming constantly for that long in rough ocean waves is tough. On the ride back, we were blessed with a little calmer waters and I ended up falling asleep facing the sun on the railing, earning myself a nice little tan to take back to the Sunshine Coast.
Day eight. Our last day in Cairns, we went up to Kuranda, a traditional village up in the rainforest. All the shops here scream hippy and it was wonderful. We browsed the shops and came across the Koala Gardens, a little zoo home to holdable koalas, something still on my Australia bucket list. I didn't realize that koalas were the size of small children until I was holding Hogan. Holy buckets are they chubby little things. In addition, we got to feed some wallabies and snuggle up to some kangaroos. After browsing in and out of a few stores, we caught a bus back, grabbed dinner and went back to the hostel.
Day nine. Our shuttle came to pick us up at 4 am to bring us to the airport. Long story short, it was one of the longest days since coming here. I got a cold the previous day and pairing that with a flight was just an overall terrible idea. So on the plane ride, train, and finally bus back to school, I got to spend it with unpopped ears which lasted another 3 days so that was fun. Finally home, grocery shopping had to get done and I got to end the night watch the National Rugby League Finals. Yeah not even going to pretend I know anything about the game except for the few details I learned this night but the game was supposedly the most intense final in history (For good reason it was crazy).
The past week has just been filled with school work and relaxing with the occasional Netflix binge with Tyler (Another American from South Carolina). So hard to believe that school is three weeks from being over and I'm just a month and a half shy from returning to the tundra. With the weather starting to warm up even more lately, time at the beach is on the agenda and pushing through the home stretch of classes. Next trip on the list, Melbourne.
Until then, for those who actually made it all the way through this novel,
Cheers
