Sydney!! Weeks:11-12

Hey everyone! I just got back from Sydney last night! It was truthfully incredible! My friend Emily and I left late on Wednesday night and began our day early on Thursday morning.

On the first day in Sydney, we booked a tour to go up to the Blue Mts. From 7am -8pm we hiked and saw various amazing sites in the Blue Mts. The Mts. aren't actually in Sydney they are a few hours outside of the city. We spent the day hiking up rough terrain and super steep cliffs. The hiking was super tiring. The paths weren't very well put together so you had to be really careful with every step you took so you wouldn't fall off the cliff-literally! Our tour guide said that we were going to climb up 1,000 stairs at one point. There was no doubt that I was going to be sore on day 2. The various paths we went on took us to different waterfalls that were absolutely gorgeous. I had never seen anything like it before. After the long hike we had lunch before starting the afternoon hike.
The second hike didn't seem too bad because it was mostly downhill. We all got to take trolley back up the mountain. This trolley we took is known to be the steepest trolley ride in the world, at 150 degrees. It was insane! I definitely felt my heart fall into my tummy for a brief minute or so. Once we got to the top we jumped into the van and went back to Sydney. It was an incredible day.

beautiful Blue Mts.

Fact: The Blue Mts. are called the Blue Mts. because when you look down into the valley of the Mt ranges, the particles in the air reflect the sky onto the trees, giving the entire mountain rage a blue tint. :)
 That night we basically just crashed and got a good night sleep.

When we woke up in the morning my calf's were so sore it hurt to walk. I guess that's what happens when you aren't used to hiking all the time. Anyways, we set out on a free walking tour though out Sydney. On the walk we got to see Chinatown, the Chinese friendship gardens, the Sydney Entertainment Center, places where various Olympic games occurred, the Victorian Mall, the Harbor Bridge, and of course we ended our tour with lunch outside the Sydney Opera House! I learned a lot about the city.

Sydney Opera House!

That night Emily and I went back to the Opera House for dinner and an Opera show/competition. It was really great getting the opportunity to not only see and take pictures of the Opera House, but actually experience it and an Opera show. The show was incredible. I grew much more appreciation for Opera singers after I had seen the show. I still don't know how these singers have the breath and lung capacity to do what they do ;)
After the show, Emily and I decided to hit up the club! We went to this really cool and hoppin' place called "Ivy." There, we danced a lot and had a fun time bringing out our alias's. haha

Emily and I after the Opera show, Harbor Bridge

We slept in the following morning due to staying out super late the previous night. Our goal for the day was to shop! We went to the Hay Street Markets where there are tons of flee market-like shops with a huge variety of items. I got some nice souvenirs for friends and family. These markets were really cool and I wish Chi-town had markets like these!
After we shopped, we headed over to the Sydney sky tower. Once we made it to the vary top of the tower (the Sydney tower is the 3rd largest tower in the Southern Hemisphere) we got to view the entire city from way up high. It was beautiful to see the sunset on the ocean.

sunset over Sydney looking down from the Sydney outlook tower

pretty city view

Afterwards, Emily and I met up with my friend Stacey to see Avatar 3D Extended version on the largest screen in the world IMAX theater. This theater was really intense and huge! The movie was great and we all enjoyed the movie very much.

on our last day in Sydney, Emily and I woke up earlyto start out ourday bywalking across teh Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was super sunny outside which made the walk and the views that much better! We took several pictures of the Opera house from the bridge. It was cool seeing the Harbor and and Operahouse from different angels! 

establishment of the Sydney Harbor Bridge

Once we hiked back over the bridge, Emily and I decided to take a bus over to Bundi Beach. Bundi Beach is one of the most famous beaches in Sydney. It is a big tourist attraction because the waves can get quite large and it's basically surfers paradise. It was nice having dinner along the beach side and watching surfers surf. The water was a bit too cold to swim in, but we enjoyed laying on the beach and soaking up the sun.

Bondi Beach, Sydney

Once we got back into the city, we met up again with our friend Stacey and went to this famous pancake place in Sydney called "Pancakes on the Rocks." The pancakes were unbelievably good. We basically had desert for dinner. Pancakes were definitely a great way to end our trip in Sydney.

Pancakes on the Rocks, yummm

This week I'm back at Uni with just 2 weeks to go! I cannot believe my trip is almost coming to an end. I have a quiz this week and then nothing else until finals...which are 2 weeks away. I leave for Singapore/Thailand in a week and a half so I hope to get a lot of work done prior to when I leave. It's hard to get into the groove of studying when there are so many things going on all the time! It should be fine though, I'm not too worried.

OH Also, before I left for Sydney, my roommates and I threw a big party. It was called an ABC Party in which everyone came in "Anything But Clothes" --> It was soo funny. People came in garbage bags, boxes, cloth grocery bags, flags, leafs, and basically anything you could imagine. People got really creative with different costumes. It's always fun to dress up and everyone had a lot of fun! 

at our ABC party-Leafs, straws, and cardboard 

I will probably only have a couple blogs after this because I'll be home in just about 6 weeks or so. I'm not really ready to leave yet! Australia has been so much fun and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the time I have here :)
Until next time folks !!