When Sydney flies by...


Advertisement
Australia's flag
Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Darling Harbour
July 29th 2010
Published: July 29th 2010
Edit Blog Post


Hey guys! Hope everything is good with all of you and you're having better weather then we are - thunder storms, long term rain and even fog out here down under! Both Ed and I are good but need to start packing as tomorrow we head off to even chillier New Zealand, so I'll try to keep this relatively short, but let me talk you through our last few days.
On Sunday we followed a walking tour in our guide book (lonely planet is the best) and saw many tourist spots but also found some really cool places you wouldn't usually come across; one being the Rocks market which was amazing. Every time you turned a corner you expected it to end but, by the time we did finally reach the end of the stalls we had meandered our way back to Circular Quay! There were stalls filled with every type of food, chilli paste, clothes, crystals and cuddly toys - but you'll be glad to know we were very restrained (except when it came to chocolate coated strawberries!). This is when the weather started going a bit crazy too, there was a huge thunderstorm that evening but luckily, the bar next to us is attached through the hostel so you don't even have to go outside to get a drink! Pure travellers' love, and we get money off as we're staying in Base so its all good.
On Monday we went to this huge fish market, even though neither of us are massively keen on fish it was quite the experience. There were so many different fish in varying shapes and sizes, and the smell is so overpowering on entering the warehouse-like building. Also as you cross the road to enter the market you see its covered in seagulls and its actually a litte intimidating! We were then meant to go on a whale watching tour (the other boat thing I mentioned earlier wasn't running) but we misunderstood where we were getting picked up so have now changed it for tomorrow so hopefully we (like you Eastaffs) will get to see some whales as its the right season for them out here.
It actually worked out quite well because we then were able to visit Wildlife world which I don't think we would have had time for otherwise; it was filled with kangaroos, a 5m croc, turtles, wallabies, koala bears, so many poisionous insects and snakes and every other creature you can imagine. Ed took so many photos! That evening we went to the imax with the 'world's biggest screen' and saw Inception which, we both agreed (unlike the Italian film) is amazing - definitely worth a watch. But we had an early night as the next three mornings we were going to have be up by 6am.
Yet these three early starts have been totally worth it; the following day we went wine tasting in the Hunter Valley and also visited a National Park and saw a wallaby 😊. And the wine tasting! Well, midway through the first wine tasting as Woolombi wines (a boutique wine makers) we both began to feel quite sophisticated and made decisions about the wine's nature - quote Ed 'there definitely is the essence of cheese'. I thought he was crazy, yet the wine lady agreed with him...
By the time we had finished at the second winery we were definitely feeling the effects - and I'm not even just referring to myself and Ed, but the whole group! One of the Canadians was travelling with his wife and daughter and began by taking the tastings very seriously, ended up red in the face and asking me if 'you love old canadian men?' - it was hillarious. We also met some cool people around our age who we went to the Blue mountains with the next day. Once again it was a relatively early night because tomorrow was going to be a big day.
We awoke to heavy rain and on asking Ed's opinion if I should take my raincoat or not, he thought 'I wouldn't need it'. Alas, he was very wrong. Luckily we had the same cheery tour guide, Jason, from yesterday who trekked in shorts and talked more than any man I've ever met. The only thing that really was a shame was the growing mist due to the rain; we couldn't see the blue mountains or the three sisters (the two main attractions) but did see the waterfalls at their best. Due to my lack of raincoat (and possibly a few whinges) Ed decided I should get a waterproof poncho for the two walks, one involving 1000 steps. The ponchos were one size fits all and white - it went down to my knees so I had to hold it up like a ball gown and quote: 'you look like casper the friendly ghost - or a member of the KKK'. Which was pretty funny, and I was dry; but I also got traditionally face painted with aboriginal ochre which left me looking like a bit of a loony. We trekked on through the rainforest and ended our day by taking the steepest railway in the world - 52 degrees - back to the bus! We were looking forward to a shower and a rest but first off had to abuse the free meal at a nearby backpackers bar with a few mates. By the time we got back we had to just change and head off to our friend from Vietnam's (Clare) party, so even a shower had to wait.
That was quite the experience. Torrential rain still going strong and possibly ruining our plans for today, whilst wearing heels and then not being able to get in the flats. THEN on getting in the flats we had to, to put it frankly, break in to the top floor by passing up our friend Rose to knock on the door, find Clare (who she'd never met before) to let us in. All in all quite entertaining. But the rest of the night went swimmingly; we met so many lovely people but as Clare is 30 everyone was older, and when they heard our ages wouldn't believe us! This lead to me getting my ID inspected! But we had a great time.
Phew, sorry feels like I've just listed everything - its just we've been so busy! Today we went skydiving from 16,000 feet too. Thought you might like to know now we're both fine, we didn't want to let you know before and worry you; particularly as it didn't seem likely it would happen with the constant rain. However, on leaving the hostel at half six in the morning we were greeted with clear skies - a sure sign we were both going to throw ourselves out of a plane. What an amazing experience!!! Neither of us really had time to get scared and as you fall you can feel your cheeks being sucked back as the cold air hits us, whilst staring down at the beach and the sea - feeling, literally and metaphorically, on top of the world.
We then both got to guide our parachutes as our instructors gave us the handles, and wow Australia is so beautiful I genuinely think everyone should go skydiving, not just for the adrenaline, but for the views and the changing scenery. The rest of today has been filled with some desperately needed washing, packing and cooking but this evening we're going out for dinner (courtesy of Mut and Vat) and have chosen a posh, and recommended, Indian overlooking Darling Harbour - we'll let you know what its like! But thank you in advance 😊
Well there we go I think thats everything, we'll hopefully update when we reach Queenstown in a few days. Hope you guys are having half as much fun as we are! Keep the comments coming, its lovely to hear from you all and we promise not to do anything too life threatening now after our adrenaline junky experience!
lots of love to everyone xxxxxxxxxxx

Advertisement



29th July 2010

Sky diving!!!
I am just SOOO glad you didn't tell us before. Please repeat this exercise if you decide to Bungie Jump. I really don't want to know till AFTER the event!!! Reading all your blogs with my mouth open as I cant believe what you are managing to pack in. Sober or not. Much Love Mum and Alex xxxxxx

Tot: 0.117s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 16; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0549s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb