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Published: April 1st 2009
Bondi Beach
a look at Bondi Beach!I finally visited the great city of Sydney!!
We were there for about a total of 5 days and did soooo much in those 5 days!
Day 1, 3/26/09:
Our flight to Sydney departed at 5:25am. So we all went out the night before and decided we would just not get any sleep and sleep on the plane. Not a good idea. We went out for a while on Wednesday evening and didn't get back until close to 2:30am and our cab was going to pick us up at 4am! I went back to my apt and just finished packing and didn't go to sleep fearing I wouldn't wake up. So 4am hits and I start taking my stuff downstairs hopefully meeting the 3 other girls down there that lived in a different room. I get down there and the cab is there and nobody else. The driver asks me if I was Theresa, and I was like no but she'll be down here any minute with the two other girls. So I wait, and wait, call 3 cell phones and no answer. I then go up to their apartment, knock and walk in and everyone is sleeping!! I was
Sydney Harbour Bridge
the bridge we climbed!! all the way to the top! in a panic I quickly woke up the girls and told them it's past 4 and the cab has been here for 15 minutes!! Everyone starts scrambling and making sure they're all packed and have everything. Finally, we head out and get into the cab and make it to the airport just in time. If I wasn't going on this trip, they definitely would have missed their flight to Sydney!! The plane ride itself was just over an hour and a half and I slept the whole way. Once we landed we took a shuttle to the hostel we were staying at. For some reason the hostel cold not put all four of us in the same room. Basically, 3 girls in one room and 1 girl in another. Since I'm brave and nice enough I volunteered to be by myself with 7 other random people in a room. It wasn't that bad; I mean I was really only there just to sleep. Right when I got into the room, there was a guy and a girl from England and a girl from Argentina. I didn't really meet the others as they weren't there at the time. After I changed
Sydney Harbour Bridge
we made it to the top! Look at the view we got to see!! clothes and settled into my bottom bunk, we decided to go to the beach. We went to Bondi Beach for the day. Bondi Beach is one of the most famous beaches in all of Australia. It was really nice. I ended up falling asleep on my stomach and got a good amount of sunburn on my back. After the beach, we took the bus back to the hostel and showered and went to dinner at a good Italian place. Afterwards we walked around the city for a bit and then ended up going back and going to bed a little early since we were all so tired.
Day 2: Sydney Harbour Bridge
Just as I expected, didn't get too much sleep that night even though I was so tired. Waking up several times to people waltzing into the room throughout all hours of the night, turning the light on and off several times. I guess it's just the hostel experience. I got ready and dressed by 8:30ish and headed downstairs to meet Theresa to talk to the travel people because we wanted to book some tours and activities for the next several days. Today we booked to climbe the
Opera House
a view of the Opera House Sydney Harbor Bridge. This bridge is the largest arched steel bridge in the world-and we climbed it!! It was an amazing view of the city and harbor. We had to wear these funny suits to climb in, but totally worth it. We were literally standing above Sydney harbor looking over the whole city-so neat! This was voted the number one thing to do in New South Wales for the past 3 years. That night we went out in the city to this bar called The Argyle. It was actually really fun until I started to feel sick. A few hours earlier I noticed I had a sore throat but ignored it. At the bar I started to feel light-headed, dizzy and just not good and sat down for a while. Everyone was having such a good time I didn't want to make anyone leave. But we left eventually, but I only retained 2 hours of sleep before we had to wake up at 6am the next morning!
Day 3: Blue Mountains
Today we went to the Blue Mountains. We did a lot of hiking today but the views were gorgeous. The Blue Mountains is a very famous place to
fun in the hostel!
us girls having fun in our hostel! visit as well, and it was barely an hour bus ride to get there. This was also the day that Michigan State basketball played Kansas to get into the Elite 8. So that was on my mind all day and I actually didn't find out if they won until the next morning when finally someone answered when I called. I thought that by nobody answering at first it was a bad sign. But MSU beat Kansas and was headed to the Elite 8 to play Louisville in the next game. That night, we went to the famous Opera House on Sydney harbor and saw a comedy show. This guy was hilarious and from all places, he was from Tennessee and he was wearing Kentucky basketball shirt before he changed outfits halfway through. I was excited 😊. After the show, we stayed around the area and went to a nice bar right below the Opera House, very classy. Me and my friends Jess and Theresa ended up leaving earlier then the other three becuase me and Jess felt quite sick. I ended up catching a cold and I still have it. We went back to the hostel and I went up
Blue Mountains
me posing in front of the Blue Mountains :) to my room and planned to go to bed but there were 2 new people in the room so I introduced myself and talked to them for a while. One guy was from Sweden and the other guy was from Germany.
Day 4: Wine tasting
Today we travelled to 3 different wineries throughout Hunter Valley, Australia. It was about a 2-2.5 hour bus ride out from Sydney. This was my first adventure doing a wine tasting and it was so much fun!! I really got a good taste on different wines and which ones I prefer. I think I prefer white wines and a little on the drier side as well. I'm not a fan of the really sweet wines; way to sweet for me. I guess they were called dessert wines. I liked a few of the red wines as well. I did like the Sweet Shiraz and 2004 Shiraz. But I really liked 2005 Semillon and I actually bought a bottle at the last winery we visited. I tasted Verdehlo and I really liked it. It's a dry, white wine. Overall, the wine tasting experience was so worth it. Now I know a little more about wine-and
felt quite classy too! For dinner that night we ate at the Sydney Tower. It's a famous tower that has a restaurant at the top. We were literally sitting next to the windows and looking out into all of Sydney, at night! We were slowely spinning so we got to see the whole city while eating. The food was great too!! I was so stuffed by the end of the dinner.
Day 5: Manly Beach/ last day
I woke up this morning with a beep on my phone saying I had a missed call and voicemail. I was awaiting the game between Michigan State and Louisville. And the missed call was from home in Chicago. I figured if they won they would leave a message and maybe if the lost they wouldn't, hopefully. So I sneak out into the hallway and check my message and it was my mom letting me know that Michican State beat Louisville by 11 points!! I could not have been a more happier camper that day. I immediately call my dad and this was how he answered "Final Four, junior!" (he calls me junior, don't ask). It's awesome because Michigan State is playing in
Blue Mountains railway up!
Theresa and I on the railway back up to the top of the mountains. This railway is the steepest in the world!! We were angled at 57 degrees!! the Final Four in Detroit, only about 90miles from East Lansing (their campus)!!! They pretty much have home court advantage in Final Four. They play UConn this weekend, and hopefully they win!! Anyway, today was our last day in Sydney. Our flight left at 8:30pm that night, so we decided to hit up another famous beach before we left. The beach is called Manly Beach and it was soo nice. We had good weather for the first 3 hours or so then it started to get really cloudy and rain a little. We got a cab to the airport that evening and departed for Brisbane. None of us wanted to leave; Sydney is such an amazing city with so much to do and see there. I highly recommened visiting Sydney if anyone is ever here!!
I'm currently halfway through this week of classes. I have a lot going on next week. A field trip with my Marine Science class on Tuesday, an exam on Wednesday and a big marine report due Thursday. Also starting on Thursday of next week is our mid-semester break, or like a spring break back at home. I'm going to Fraser Island from Thursday to
Opera House
Theresa M, me, Theresa F. and Jess all in frong of the harbor, getting ready to enter the Opera House for a Comedy show Easter Monday for my Australian Terrestrial class and then I'm going to Heron Island (located at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef) from Easter Monday to Saturday, I believe, for my Australia's Marine Environement class. These trips should be fun and I'm really looking forward to them! I still have hopes to get to Melbourne soon too! So I may not blog again until after April 19th. In that case, let's go Michigan State Spartans!!! I also got the news today that Kentucky has a new coach, Coach Calipari from Memphis-going to be the highest paid coach in NCAA bball history!! Hopefully he turns things around at Kentucky!!
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Marla (Cooze)
non-member comment
Slides
Steph....I am soooooo happy for you! You are your Mom all over again. It reminds me of the "slides" she used to show after all her travels during the college years. Can't wait for you to share more! Love, Marla