Sydney, Australia

Friday, Feb 5-9th

Well, from one country to the next... I finally made it to Australia. I actually applied to go to teacher's college in Aussie, and was accepted into all the universities, but my dad got sick at the time, and I simply felt too guilty leaving him home alone. So I declined my studies abroad, and promised myself that one day I would make it to Aussie.

Peter and Craig from our Contiki tour offered to 'host' Marci and I while we stayed in their city which was amazing! The only not-so-amazing part was that it rained literally from the time we arrived to the time that I left. :(

The first day Craig picked us up at the airport and took us right away to the Sydney Olympic Park where I was able to see the various stadiums and structures from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. We then took a ferry to the centre of the city where I saw the famous Sydney Bridge and the Opera House! For some reason the Opera house excited me so much... every time I think of Sydney, that is the structure that comes to mind. At this point it was POURING.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed off to the Sydney zoo. This was by far the highlight of my day, where I was able to take a picture with a Koala and a Kangaroo! Woo hoo.... I actually have a list of 'must do's' while I am travelling and the pic with the Koala was one of them. Check.

That evening we ate at Darling Harbour and then up to the 17th floor (of a hotel) for some drinks with Craig and Peter's workmates. What a great view of the city at night!

The next day was pouring again so didn't really do too much besides try to get into the Opera house but the guided tours were just too expensive. We made dinner at home and watched movies. It was great to just chill!

Sunday... guess what? Rain again. LOL. We went to Bondi beach, and man, would I have been sunning my buns had the weather been nice. The beach is amazing, but of course, the weather put a little damper on things. That night, Joe came over (Contiki guy we met)...and everyone went out for Thai food. I had a splitting headache, so I stayed in.

Monday--Alfred met us at the train station to take us to the Blue Mountains, another 'tourist' attraction where there is a legend of these 3 sisters who got turned into massive rocks, and everyone goes for the magnificent view. Once we got there, our view was fog--so we did not actually get to see the 3 sisters. However, we took a 2 1/2 hour hike down the 3 Sisters Trail.... in the rain forest pretty much, and by the end of our time, we were soaked but what a fantastic day. And some really great pics too! With all the waterfalls and density of of the forest, the 3 of us at some point all got bitten by leeches, Yikes!

When we got back back to Sydney, the 5 of us grabbed a quick bite to eat at Darling Harbour and then were off to the IMAX to see Avatar. This IMAX is the biggest screen in the world, so I was VERY excited to see it again. I don't think I've ever had that much fun in a movie theatre before, all of us taking pictures with our 3-D glasses on. LOL.
Just as we were leaving the theatre, we happened to literally run into Jakob, another Contiki guy from Germany actually...he was so pleasantly surprised to see us, and in some serious shock too! It was quite entertaining.

Marci and I have decided to split up, and embark on our own journeys separately. We both want to see different things in Australia, and it would be impossible to see both what I want to see and what she wants to see in the span of a month. So tonight was our last night together. I was feeling quite anxious today, as travelling on my own is totally out of my comfort zone. But I've always said that I need to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to learn and grow as an individual. So I hope this does it! Let's see how long I last. LOL.