Day 2

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I'm writing this actually on the 23rd, but as it's the 22nd for everyone else (and describing the 22nd) I didn't think that would be too problematic. I meant to put up some photos I took yesterday, but I left my camera cord accidentally in the room. And can't be bothered to go and get it. Also because all the other girls are still asleep and I already feel bad waking up so early (jet lag).

Yesterday started well, I had an ice coffee and chocolate danish covered in warm chocolate sauce. I believe that might be as good as it gets. I wandered outside with a little map and essentiall went for a really long walk (especially good when one has a bad ankle... more on that later). I got a SIM card, but this is a public blog so if you want to know the number (and don't already have it) then ask me on Facebook or email me.

I started off in Sydney's Hyde Park. Yes, same name as our one. I took photos of these strange birds which are their replacement pigeons. Much more exciting though. And the trees are filled with parrots!!!! They are really noisy and different colours and poo a lot. Anyway, I kept on walking. I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, and thought about how much my mother would like them... They have the most beautiful rose garden and various signs which describe how hard it is to grow roses in Sydney due to the humidity.

I walked past the opera house, and down to this place called Circular Quay, which is the main ferry terminal. I'm going to take a ferry today, so that was useful to see. It was absolutely stunning, the water is the most amazing blue... There were sailing boats everywhere, and literally not a cloud in the sky. I had a lovely lunch, and was sitting next to Dizzee Rascal (parents: he is a fairly famous music star in the UK)!!! I didn't believe it was him for the longest time but the beauty of being on my own is that I can listen to other peoples' conversations. Brits came up and asked him for an autograph and he talks exactly the same way that he sings. Anyway... I kept on walking, and walked to this place called "The Rocks" or something like that, which is right by Harbour Bridge (the really big one which is a bit of a tourist attraction). It's the oldest part of Sydney, and given that Captain Cook landed in Australia in 1770, it's not that old at all. It's colonial style buildings, and they've kept some of the original facades and shop engravings.

I then walked all the way to the Sydney Aquarium. By this time it was about 1pm (I had an early lunch) and getting BAKING hot. I bought passes to both the Aquarium and the "Wildlife centre", which I'll go to another day, possibly tomorrow. I went to the Aquarium which was nice and cool. They show which fish and things are in Sydney Harbour (which was where I was walking before). That was pretty cool, they have all these brightly coloured fish and seahorses, and jellyfish and sharks and turtles... Compare that to the River Thames!!! They also have some dugongs there (google it if you don't know what they are) and I've never seen those before apart from on David Attenborough programmes.

After the aquarium I started to make my way home. There was a man dressed as an Ugg boot (I took a photo don't worry), and he was the highlight of my journey home. The hostel is right next to Chinatown, so I had thought that I would go and get some noodles or dim sum for dinner, but I hadn't anticipated how exhausted I would be. So I went to a little convenience store and bought some pot noodles (which were adequately nice) and some english breakfast tea, and some tim tams. For anyone who has never even heard of the legend of Tim Tams, let me explain. They are these australian chocolate biscuits which are a little like Penguins. Except that the cream in the middle is a lot fresher and lighter. They are absolutely DELICIOUS. I will bring some home with me, don't worry. While I was eating my dinner I met a lovely French girl and we had a nice little chat in French (we started chatting when I decided to offer her a Tim Tam). She had a really nice dinner where she had just bought a few salad ingredients and ate them when she felt hungry. I'm going to do that for tomorrow. Or tonight, even.

I watched some of the tennis then went back to my room. Had a lovely chat with some more of the girls in the room - mystery girl number 1 is from Canada, and mystery girl number 2 is from Barcelona. I took some sleeping pills, put in the earplugs and put on the eyemask. I slept 8 hours, which is great. Hopefully I'll be able to stay up later than 8pm today as a result!!!

It's forecast to be 40C today, so I'm going to take a ferry to one of the suburbs of Sydney called Manly, which has been recommended to me a million times. They have beaches there, but I won't go swimming, I'll just paddle. I'm still a little worried about sharks to be perfectly honest. I'll put up photos of some of the places I've mentioned this evening, when I have a lovely scheduled Skype chat with my mother and any other family member who wants to join in.

About my ankle... after a full day of walking in the heat, when I've barely been using it at all for the past month... it swelled up to be an elephant ankle again (mmm sexy). I'm going to take it easier today. The swelling had totally gone down this morning down again though, so it's not too bad. I may investigate gettig an ice pack for if it decides to do that again. It did get to the point where it was literally twice the size of my normal ankle.

Off for breakfast now, I'll have an ice coffee and maybe something with fruit in it.

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Comments

[your doctor]

your ankle
please take care of your ankle or i may have to fly out to australia and amputate is. ps. where from canada is mystery girl 1?

[sophiasophia]

mystery girl 1
she's from a small town near vancouver. and she's called emily. mystery girl 2 is called jessica, the irish girl is called sharon and the other one has left so is irrelevant.