We were very smelly when we landed in Sydney. We had not showered since roughly 7 am Monday, Vancouver time, and by the time we made to the apartment we were renting, it was 10:30 Thursday Sydney time. Granted we crossed the international date line in the middle there, but even so. I did the math and it was 57.5 hours sans shower. Gross.
So we land in Sydney, all stinky and tired, and found that Vancouver isn't the only city that over charges people to use the train system from the airport. $32 later we made our way to the apartment we rented with Miranda's friends Sunny and Emily in Sydney's Potts Point neighbourhood. It was really nice. A former ballet studio renovated into a nice little apartment with a Murphy bed and a loft with another bed over the laundry room like a super cool adult indoor tree fort. You can probably guess which bed I wanted.
After washing up and relishing the feeling of clean, we set out to see what we could see. First thing we did was get some meat pies which are so awesome and Canada should totally have these everywhere. There just like chicken pot pies but bigger and beefier and gravy-er and better. Then we headed over to the botanical gardens which are right downtown beside the opera house. Very beautiful. We came around the bend to a spectacular view of the Opera house and pictures were taken. We then strolled along the sea wall toward the opera house and passed bus loads of Asian business men taking photos of seemingly everything, naval recruits running up and down stairs making us feel out of shape and worthless, and plenty of young couples holding hands and generally feeling good about life. When we made our way over to the opera house and had poked it to verify that we were indeed here and that this was real, we decided it was well time for a drink, so to Opera Bar we went. This is a bar right beside the Opera House, with a good view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge too. It is nice.
After drinks were drunk we set out to find a phone to let Emily know where we were. This proved difficult. We apparently don't know how to use Aussie pay phones because neither at the airport when we were trying to contact the guy to give us keys to the apartment or at this time trying to phone Emily could we get them to dial or at least stay connected for more than 10 seconds. We eventually found some free wifi and were able to contact her and sort some stuff out. After walking home we met up with Sunny and Emily and headed out again.
We took the train to Chinatown and had Thai food. I ate a super hot chili by accident. It hurt. Then we went out to Newtown which is the University district and had Gelato from The Cow and Moon which won the Gelato World Championship or something. There was a 50 person line up out the door and around the corner and dispite the fact that we were falling asleep on our feet, it was totally worth it. Side note: the trains in Sydney are awesome. The stations are huge and the network comprehensive. The trains are like real trains, like west coast expresses running under the city and arriving every 10 minutes.
The next day we took the ferry over to Manly which is like Sydney's version of White Rock, except as with everything else, bigger and better. We rented some kayaks and headed over to Store Beach which was the site of a small pox quarrentine station. It is also the sole remaining nesting ground for fairy penguins which are small and cute. We saw many tracks, but no birds. Which is probably good because disturbing them would be bad. We went to another beach and hiked up a cliff and decided that we were hungry and headed back to port. After getting mediocre fish and chips and meeting very brave and aggressive sea gulls we took the ferry back to Sydney.
We then went to Cockle Bay wharf and to the Lindt chocolate cafe and ate supremely decadent chocolate stuff which gave me a headache. We were sitting beside a spoiled little brat who would not stop whining about wanting chocolate and screaming nonsense and her parents who did nothing about it other than sweetly ask her to stop. They were the Dursleys and she was Dudley. We then wondered back through Chinatown and Miranda and I bought cheap stainless steel rings to take the place of the gold wedding ones we left back home. We were married again. After getting home we rested a bit and then headed out for dinner. We ended up finding a little basement bar with a band playing banjo covers of Micheal Jackson songs. It was cool. Then we slept. I feel that the days of drinking until 3am are fast escaping me. So tired!
Yesterday each couple did there own thing, and Miranda and I headed out to Bondi Beach and wandered around for a while. We then headed back into town to 'The Rocks' district which is the oldest part of Sydney. We climbed up the 200 stairs to the Pylon lookout of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and learned all about it's construction, took photos, and watched people get married on the shore line below. Seriously. It is wedding season here. We saw 4 separate couples taking wedding photos at Observation hill (there's an observatory up there with big trees, a gazebo and beautiful views of the city) and a huge group of at least 100 women who were all part of Bachelorette parties down by the wharf later that day. Side note: don't do the Bridge Climb unless you like spending lots of money. We watched people doing it from the Pylon Lookout, and for less than a 10th of the price we saw views that were almost as good, and didn't have to spend 3 hours doing it. AND we got the added bonus of the museum. The Pylon Lookout isn't very well advertised and I suspect that it is because the Bridge Climb is privately owned whereas the Pylon Lookout is a public thing and often publicly owned attractions don't have much in the way of advertising. But I could be wrong about that, just a hunch.
But anyways, after the lookout, we wondered around The Rocks and made our way up to Observation Hill and then on to The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel which is the oldest brewery pub in Sydney. Beer was had, bangers and mash were eaten and rugby was watched. We then wandered down to Darling Harbour and saw all the Bachelorettes and waited a bit to watch the free fire works that they put on every Saturday because fire works are awesome. Seriously Canada, you could learn a lot from Australia. Again, we were going to go out partying, but we slept instead. An old married couple we are.
So now we are at the airport and I am typing this and getting frustrated with auto correct. We are headed up to Gold Coast to stay with Miranda's cousin Taryn. There is a baby there is is cute beyond words. I like her a lot.
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