Sam and I got a ride to the airport at 4 to get our flight at 6, which I attempted to sleep on but failed miserably. We arrived around 8 in the morning because of the time difference but it took a while to get out of the airport and get our bearings. We bought our metro passes which let us go on anything; busses, trains, ferries. We took the train into the city and hopped on a bus to get to our hostel, the Wood Duck Inn. I was a bit concerned when we walked in and it had a shady stairwell but we checked into our 10 person room and took a fantastic nap.
We woke up sometime around 1 and decided to go explore the city. Near the hostel we checked out the St. Mary's Cathedral which was really beautiful and massive! We then wandered over to the Botanical Gardens which were super cool and beautiful. They had wild cockatoos and different types of vegetationa and flying foxes which are really cute bats. We turned a corner and there were hundreds of them just hanging from the trees. We then walked along the water and all of a sudden, right in front of me was the infamous Opera House. It was crazy to finally see something so iconic in person. Just past the Opera house was the Harbor Bridge, and it was a perfect blue sky and WARM! Christchurch had been so cold for a while so it was wonderful to be in the sunshine in such an amazing place. We had muffins by the water before going back to our hostel.
We hung out for a while with the other people at our hostel. There were a lot of English, Dutch, and Germans there and we got really close with a English girl named Lizzie and a Dutch girl named Reve. Sam and I decided that since it was towards the end of our time here, it was time to splurge for dinner. We decided to go get Thai food which was surprisingly delicious and not too pricey before walking over to Darling Harbor to watch the World Cup. They had a giant screen set up on the water and there were tons of people watching the game. After one game, I was definitely ready for bed, so we walked back to the hostel to get some good sleep in.
The following morning, everyone got up early to have our free breakfast on the roof. It was pretty basic, cereal and toast, but I think it was a great idea because it brought us all together to hang out and get to know each other. A group of us decided to meet up and go to a museum and have lunch in the botanical gardens. We explored the Sydney art museum before the guys took off and us girls decided to have a picnic in the park. Sam and I had decided to save money through making sandwiches instead of eating out. It definitely was cheaper, healthier, and I think we make awesome sandwiches. Relaxing in the sun was a lot of fun and just sharing culture with Lizzie and Reve was interesting. Then it was a walk along the water before we split off and Sam and I decided to hop on a ferry to Manly beach.
It was a beautiful ferry ride in the harbor and we went right past the Harbor Bridge before we arrived at sunset at Manly. I think Manly beach may be a future home someday because its a ferry ride away from Sydney and yet has the touch of a beach town. There were people running everywhere and its a great surfing beach. Now I just have to get rich so I can afford beach front property.
My view from my future dream home
Sam and I walked along the water and enjoyed the fact that we were at the beach and it wasn't freezing. We had plans to meet up with the girls for dinner so we quickly hopped on the ferry and made it back in time to catch them heading to italian. I had some good pesto pasta and once we were all decked out for the Holland game it was time to head to Darling. The whole group from the hostel was at the game and all decked out in Holland pride. It was a really good game and it was tons of fun cheering on a team in a big group. After the game, half the group went to get celebratory drinks, but I was so tired I went back to our room and passed out.
Dutch Pride
No comments:
Post a Comment