Sydney - Part 3

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Sunday (Feb. 8th), Hillary and I took another little trip to one of Sydney’s more popular beaches, Bondi Beach. In fact, it even has a tv show about it called “Bondi Rescue”, about the lifeguards on the beach and their dramatic lifesaving rescues. We had been introduced to the show during our Orientation with the summary: “it’s a show about tourists who get stuck in the rip tides, and filming the lifeguards who save them”. The beach was nice, the water a little chilly and we made sure not to do anything dangerous that might get us filmed. lol

Monday was laundry day. We’d been traveling for a couple of weeks now with a minimal set of clothes (you may see us in our pictures wearing a lot of the same clothes), so it was time for a good wash. But it seemed like everyone else had the same idea. We ended up waiting in line to wash our stuff, and then waited with our wet clothes for a dryer. Let’s just say that one load of laundry was our afternoon. As a treat though, we took Mick’s advice and went for $9 steaks. Good bargain, but you get what you pay for. In other words, it wasn’t the best slab of meat. We spent the rest of the night chatting and saying goodbye to our new friends from England.

Tuesday was a special day for Hillary… The Sydney (Taronga) Zoo! We took the ferry at the Sydney harbour to the zoo, which is situated across the river from the Opera House. I would have to say that the zoo knows it’s “tourist” crowd. The second we walked in were the koalas! Lol Trust me, there were a lot of pictures taken at the zoo. I mean, who wouldn’t keep snapping away? Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, gorillas, elephants, penguins, turtles, deer, zebras, giraffes, tigers, lions, and plenty other animals (especially reptiles and marine life) were waiting to say hello! And even though it rained for much of the day, we still definitely enjoyed it. To top off the day, we went out and saw “Slumdog Millionaire”! Great movie. Definitely worth all the Oscar attention it received. Did it deserve best picture though? Personally, I had no heavy favourite this year, so I thought it made a good choice.

Kevin (and Hillary)

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Photos

Bondi Beach
A view from the top of the hill.

Mall
View from the mall we dropped by after Bondi.

Laundry Detergent
Suspicious looking laundry detergent...

Kitchen
790 on George St hostel kitchen.

Steak night
Hillary and I having a nice dinner out. Funny considering Hillary doesn't like lemon in her water.

790 on George
View from the street. Right beside YHA Central.

Ferry ride
Ferry leaving to go to the zoo. Already raining.

Zoo - 1
View from the dro off point back to the downtown.

Zoo - 2
We got to take a lift up to the top of the zoo. It's built on a hill, so if you walk it right, you just walk down hill the whole time.

Zoo - 3
Koalas! Our first look at the marsupials that sleep something like 20 hours a day.

Zoo - 4
Proof that we were actually there. lol

Zoo - 5
Wallabees. Look a lot like kangaroos, but smaller.

Zoo - 6
Hillary exploring the wildlife.

Zoo - 7
Hey, if there's no fences, there musn't be any rules about petting them.

Zoo - 8
Rainy weather. Not the greatest.

Zoo - 9
Gorillas. It's amazing how similar they are to people.

Zoo - 10
The dominant male showing us that we're not worth looking at.

Zoo - 11
The gorilla in the back is havign fun sheltering from the rain.

Sunglasses
Well, my cheap sunglasses from Thailand lasted two weeks I suppose.

Zoo - 12
Elephants. More of Hillary's favourite.

Spider
Plenty of spiders around Australia. Luckily all they like to do is hangout.