Sydney!

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Here I am in beautiful Sydney... I can hardly believe it. The flight from San Francisco to Sydney was very long, and it is very difficult to sleep in an upright position. Not to mention the fact that we were sitting in the row directly behind first class, so we could see the people all stretched out and sleeping peacefully! But it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, and I did manage to sleep a little bit. There was also a couple with a small baby in the row beside us, which of course made me think of Chris & Sarah & Nathan. The baby was so good though, he didn't make a sound the entire flight!

We landed in Sydney and Dejana and Petar met us at the airport (after an extremely long wait in the Australian customs line). But from there it has been nothing but total heaven. This country is amazing. The weather is gorgeous, it's hot and sunny and there is no humidity.

On Monday we got to Dejana's place and relaxed by the pool for a bit (she had a family lunch to attend), then in the afternoon she took us to the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful. We then walked to Circular Quay and saw views of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. They are spectacular and I took so many pictures (as I'm sure you can imagine). We got some gelato and took a ferry over to Manly Beach. We had dinner at a cafe and watched the people go by... it's kind of strange because in a lot of ways it seems like a resort (beautiful sun, hot weather, the beach, the nice shops and restaurants), but then Dejana reminded us that a lot of the people walking by live there and that is their every day life!

On Tuesday we drove to the Blue Mountains, about two hours outside of Sydney. We went on a hike first, and the views were incredible. We saw the famous Three Sisters mountains, and a lot of beautiful scenery. After our hike we took a cable car ride to the top (we forced Dejana on it, since she is scared of heights). After that we actually went over to the Three Sisters and walked down... it was very scary actually because the incline was so steep and the steps have worn away and are very uneven. At this point Tasha had had enough of "all the nature" as she called it, but she was a trooper and came along with us. It was worth it... more gorgeous views of mountains and trees as far as we could see.

We drove home from the Blue Mountains in the afternoon and Dejana then made us a huge dinner of chicken schnitzel and spinach and ricotta canneloni, which was amazing. And Tim Tams for desset... so great. Then she took us on a little driving tour of the city, she showed us King's Cross, Darling Harbour, and drove us across the Harbour Bridge. We also stopped and took some pictures of the Opera House at night.

Today Dejana had to work, so Tasha and I were on our own. We went for a walk through Hyde Park... again, it was amazing. I think I may have over-used that word already, but this is truly a beautiful city. From there we did a bit of shopping at Pitt St. Mall (an outdoor mall with 'arcades' as the Aussies say, which are little alleys that have additional stores). We were getting hungry so we decided to go to the Sydney Fish Market for lunch. We got a HUGE platter of seafood (lobster, prawns, octopus, calamari) and we were proud because we finished it all.

We are flying out to Cairns tonight and then going up to Port Douglas, where we will be staying. We're going scuba diving tomorrrow, I can't wait!

I hope all is well with everyone at home... it's really hard to believe Christmas is so soon... being here it doesn't feel like it. They don't play Christmas carols on the radio, and there are really very few decorations in the shops and on the streets in comparison to home.

I am thinking of everyone at home and hoping all is well... rest assured that I am having a fantastic time here and so far it has exceeded my expectations. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip... stay tuned for more updates! 😊

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Photos

Opera House
View of the Opera House from the ferry to Manly Beach

Sydney Airport
Dejana, me, Tasha and Petar the day we arrived

Botanical Gardens
Dejana & I at the Botanical Gardens... amazing view!

Harbour Bridge
View from Circular Quay

Manly Beach
Dinner at the Bluewater Cafe

Blue Mountains
Spectacular view!

Blue Mountains - Three Sisters
Katoomba, NSW

Victory!
After a long, steep climb down to the Three Sisters, we made it back up!

Hyde Park
Hugging a Moreton Bay fig in Hyde Park

Me in a tree
I decided to climb up into one of them...

Hyde Park Fountain
Tasha & I at the entrance to Hyde Park

Tim Tams
Dejana bought Tim Tams for us!

Comments

[Sarina]

Jealous!
Ah... reminds me of my trip... I want to go back... So, any plans to move there yet? hehehe!

[Bro]

Already hooked
Great to see you are having an amazing time. Have a Tim Tam or two for me. Love the pics. Keep them coming.

[Paul]

Just a Sydney local discovering this website and came across your entries - gotta say with the tim tams, theres a local trick to the best eating experience with these... bite both ends off the tim tam, and when having a cup of tea/coffee, put just the end of the tim tam into the teacoffee and suck on the other end (as if the tim tam were a straw) - it all melts and ends up in your mouth as tim tam goo - bit messy and dangerously addictive :) Have a great time in Oz.

[Sarah]

Wow - what a beginning!
You've done more in your first few days than we did in a week in Australia! Glad you're having a great time!

[Candice]

WOO HOO!!!
WOO HOO! TIM TAMS!!!!! DONT EAT THEM ALL...Or else the locks will be changed when you get home! LOVE YA!