exploring sydney

may 3, 2008
y on the park
10:30 pm

world youth day: 73 days to go! =)
there are signs all over sydney for world youth day-the glorious day when the pope comes to australia. apparently, not too many australians are excited about this day, but our guide, carl finds it amusing. i think a countdown may begin...

what a long day! i think we walked about 7-8 miles today as we explored sydney. we started off the day with some complimentary breakfast at the hotel. i thoroughly enjoyed the toaster which revolved the bread, where it came out as toast at the other end. coffee, juice and cereal accompanied the toast for my morning meal. i also tried vegemite which i found to be rather repulsive. it must be an acquired taste. but i took a few packets to let my family try this unique substance.
joel, megan, jodi, amy and i walked to paddy's market when it opened at 9. i was able to get most of my gifts for people here. we went back to the hotel only to discover we would need to run in order to make it to the ferry to manly beach on time. we walked quickly with spurts of running. we ended up catching up to tyler, reneca, amanda and sean, forming a herd of sprinting college students. we thought we had barely made it, but we were literally about 15 seconds to late. we watched the light change from green to red as we approached the dock after purchasing our tickets. we tried to catch jim and chris' (our leaders) attention, by waving as they sailed away. thankfully, the next ferry was only 30 minutes later, so all 16 of us (the rest got there about 30 seconds after we did) hung out eating and talking until it was time to board.
i loved the ferry ride. with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, i was able to enjoy a beautiful view of the sydney opera house and the harbor bridge as we made our way to manly beach. once we arrived it was time to search for lunch. jodi and i found some yummy sushi and then it was beach time! amanda and i went wading, but ended up braving the waves in order to make our way to one of the many sand bars. it was almost like walking on water!
i thought manly beach felt a little similar to a californian beach, except for the elaborate beautiful buildings and cathedrals that could be seen from the beach...and of course, the orange sand.
a snack of chocolate chip gelato preceded our return trip on the ferry, which was complete with laughter, and of course, pictures.
before heading back to the hotel, we thought it might be good to buy the tickets we were intending on using at the opera house later that evening. as we walked over there, it was tie for more pictures! i'm sure we looked like quite a sight as we posed for sean's fancy camera and tyler's tripod. i'm glad we went to the opera house to our tickets when we did! the "show" we had read about on-line turned out to be a lecture from the director of the ballet we ended up seeing. the attendant was an exceptionally helpful woman who even offered us $92 seats for $38 by giving us the children's price. (i think she felt sorry for us poor college students!)
on the walk back, we went to the royal botanical gardens, which i thoroughly enjoyed. and we saw the beginnings of our Australian animals with spottings of large spiders, bats (sleeping in trees) and cockatoos. we took more pictures, utilizing the tripod once more, which turned out to be quite the entertaining experience! the boys (joel, tyler and sean) posed "seductively" for the camera, making the rest of us laugh. we also took pictures with the "sex and death" display (which we later was in honor of carnivorous plants) spelling out the letters with our hands. i think we entertained not only ourselves but all the passer-bys as well.
a quick shower, clean (non-sandy) clothes and some mascara made me feel ready to enjoy the ballet. we stopped for dinner first. i liked my teriyaki chicken bowl, which we ordered as "take away" but ended up eating in the restaurant. the rest of the walk remained eventful as we were followed part of the way by two very drunk girls. i'm still not sure if they were asking us if we were "pagan" or "taken" but either way, they were ridiculous.

sydney is a beautiful city, but as we approached the opera house all lit up for the evening events i was struck by its beauty. the building was equally lovely inside. i was glad to have experienced the sydney opera house. the ballet was interesting for a few of the acts, but my favorite was the final act since it was a comedy. a wonderful end to our busy day in sydney!