Last Stuff from Sydney!

Hey guys.


Thanks again for reading.

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(will try to post pictures if possible, but may not work until later on)

2/13: Today we really did not have many things planned at all. Emily and I walked around a bit, and found this huge mall area with a great food court to try later. We also found a post office, but it was closed on the weekend. We decided to tour the Sydney Opera House, which was really interesting. He told us a lot of history and more about the architecture and types of shows. We then went and ate dinner by the Opera House, and went back to the Opera House for an opera! Well, sortof. It was a mini-opera, highlighting many of the different operas and composers. This was a very good experience, and I heard many familiar songs! After the opera, we dashed over to the BridgeClimb. This is where you have the opportunity to climb the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. You are hooked in the whole time, and it is mostly a series of stairs, with a few ladders.

Here is a few examples of what the bridge looks like when you are climbing it, and some pictures of our actual climb. The ones that I am not in I did not take, however, because no cameras were allowed on the climb. This was a really amazing experience, and it wasn't physically taxing at all. I was worried it was going to be very hard, but it actually was easier than expected. The views were so amazing, and I am really glad that we were able to do it at night!

2/14: Today we also didn't have much planned. We slept pretty late, and then Emily and I got a box to mail some of our stuff over to school that we wouldn't need. Our suitcases are very close to maximum capacity, we were a little worried that they would charge us. Then we ate lunch at a food court that was in the mall area they have in Sydney. This huge building that has great architecture houses this big mall, it has 6 floors, but most of the shops are very expensive and are more like boutiques than chains. The bottom floor has the big food court, and there were over 15 different options to eat. I had tacos (first Mexican food I've found here!) which were pretty good. We bought some "Niblets" from Mrs. Fields which are basically mini cookies and mini muffins, which were also very good. Afterward, Emily and I decided that we wanted to go do some more exploring, and we headed down to the Circular Quay area (by the bridge and the Opera House, very touristy). We boarded a ferry to go to the zoo, but realized that the zoo was only open for another hour, and then just decided to ride the ferry back. This day turned into "Emily and Amanda Adventure Day." We then got some yummy ice cream, mine was cookies and cream, and it tasted like real cream, not just vanilla. Earlier this week I had some gelato, it was called "American Chocolate" and had Snickers pieces in it, and this was really good! We then decided to board a ferry to go out to the Sydney Olympic Park, because we had always wanted to do that. This ferry took almost an hour, because the Park is actually pretty far away. We got there, and decided to start walking, rather than sit more and wait for the bus. We gave up and got on the bus, and it dropped us off by one of the stadiums, the Acer Arena. We also saw the ANZ stadium. These are the two biggest stadiums at the park, used for most of the outdoor events. There was a concert going on at Acer Arena, which was the Michael Buble concert! We decided not to randomly go to the concert, especially because we saw the same thing in the US in 2010. However, many concertgoers were abundant in the park. We caught a train back to downtown Sydney shortly after arriving, because there isn't much to do at night in the Park. When we got back it was 7:30ish, and we were starving! However, we couldn't agree on a place to go, and finally settled on a place after walking around at 8:00ish. We saw many bats and flying foxes out over the Harbour, because they live in the Botanical Gardens.

2/15: Today, we had a few things planned. Emily and I went to the Taronga Zoo, after not being able to go the day before. They had many different animals that were really cool to see! They had a lot of babies too, which was really awesome! Many of the zoos I usually frequent do not have as many. Some animals of note include platypus, echidna, wombats, koalas, elephants (with 3 babies!), gorillas (1 baby), chimpanzees (1 baby), tigers, lions, etc. The babies were so cute to watch, they were the most energetic. We then caught a ferry back, and I had some white chocolate gelato. This was really good! We caught another ferry over to Manly, which is a city/suburb of Sydney that is a half-hour away. They have a great surfing beach there, and it is at times a little touristy. We met up with some of Amy's family, and we had dinner that they cooked which was a real treat! Laundry was due for the night, and packing and getting ready to leave!

I really enjoyed my time in Sydney, there was so much stuff to do, and the weather was really great for us. It only rained one time, and misted a few other days, but it wasn't very hot, which was appreciated!