It’s safe to say that I am the worst blogger in the history
of blogs. I am a procrastinator to the extreme, and I am terrible if I do not
have a deadline. This blog has suffered because of it. I’m very sorry to the
one person who actually wants updates (hi Grandpa). Since it has been months
since my last entry, there is a lot to catch up on. The plan is to start
updating more regularly in order to catch up with everything I have missed.
Here is the Sydney installment! Enjoy.
SYDNEY TRIP:
As some of you know, I have been working for some time on my
applications to graduate school. I have at this point been accepted to both of
the schools I applied to (University of Montana and Portland State University).
In order to complete these applications, I had to take the dreaded Graduate
Record Exam (GRE). You may be wondering what all this has to do with Sydney,
Australia. Since (as we have already determined) I am a grade-A procrastinator,
I obviously waited to take the test until I was living across the world. Sydney,
over 1,000 kilometers away from where I live on the Sunshine Coast, was the
closest testing location. My completely awesome host family (who originally
hail from Sydney) decided to pack up the car with the kids and meet me down
there after my exam. The afternoon I arrived I checked into a swanky but
incredibly pretentious hotel I had booked last minute for a good price. I
wandered the streets of the Central Business District and enjoyed a glass of
wine at an open-air restaurant until I had the rude awakening of nearly
everyone around me lighting up. I’m fairly certain every citizen of Sydney
smokes. The buzz of the city made me feel gloriously anonymous, and I happily
meandered down various side streets, no doubt irritating the hoards of business
people pushing to get back to work. I then had dinner at the hotel restaurant
where a waiter told me that he felt I looked “way too young to be drinking.”
May I remind you all that the drinking age in Australia is 18. (Prepare for a
slight tangent) The age issue has become a bit of a common theme for me here in
Australia, and I am still too young to take it as a compliment. I have been
handed a twelve and under coloring menu, asked if I am looking forward to
graduating from high school, have been given a fourteen and under ferry ticket,
and asked if I had my parent’s permission to get my eyebrows waxed. For those
of you who don’t know, I will be 23 this year. I’m only slightly bitter.
Anyway, back to the trip.
After my exam, my host family picked me up and we headed for
an apartment at Coogee Beach, a gorgeous oceanfront stretch that is a quieter
alternative to the wildly famous Bondi Beach. We did eventually make our way to
Bondi Beach, where I eagerly searched the lifeguard stands for the stars of the
reality TV show Bondi Rescue. I spotted one of the guys, but unfortunately for
me, it was the old guy who yells at everyone that he saves. When we saw him, he
was in the middle of yelling at some tourists for swimming outside the flags,
so needless to say, I was too scared to even take a picture.
Bondi Beach
My first sighting of the Sydney Opera House was
awe-inspiring. We were up in the hills looking over the Sydney Harbour. It was
a spectacular sight with its vast white “sails” and the Harbour Bridge standing
proudly next to it. It is certainly a sight everyone should try to see in his
or her lifetime. Up close, I was surprised to find that the Opera House
actually looks a little outdated. Those “sails” that look so smooth in
photographs are actually made up of individual white tiles, and the front of
the building has brown metal supports that give the whole thing a distinctly
1970s feel. We walked into a little corridor and found a troupe of vaguely
frightening clown/mimes entertaining children. We left rather quickly.
Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House
Close up of the front of the Opera House
Near the Opera House and Harbour Bridge stands the famous
old amusement park, Luna Park. We walked through the gaping mouth entrance into
a world of vintage amusement and charm. It was a lovely afternoon with
spectacular views and memories that will last forever.
The entrance to Luna Park
We toured other bits of Sydney, visiting a nice street market
and driving through the notorious (read: dangerous) Kings Cross neighborhood
famous for high profile drug rings, raging nightclubs, and vicious street
bashings.
After our few days exploring Sydney, we loaded back into the
car to take our time traveling up the east coast of Australia. That will be the
subject of my next blog entry. Thanks for reading!!
