What a whirlwind of excitement this last week was! Here in Toowoomba I started class and actually really enjoyed it. The teachers are extremely helpful and incredibly laid back. I think this is going to be a fun semester academically. Along with class we all basically just hung out around campus and Toowoomba. Most of us were still recovering from our weekend in Surfer's Paradise.
One of the nights this past week, when we were just about to go play frisbee, this intense wind picks up along with some loud thunder and loads of lightening. I have seen a lot of thunder storms, some pretty severe, and this one was up there in probably the top 5. The pouring rain was going sideways in the wind, the lightening was consistently cracking every minute, and one specific bolt struck the lighting tower for the field where we play frisbee. The Student Village, where I live, lost power for just a few seconds. Trina lost power in her dorm for nearly 40 minutes. Luckily I had unplugged my laptop about 10 minutes before that strike. I'm extremely thankful for that. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful... just trying to find my way around campus to get to class.
On Friday, Lauren, Trina and myself began another daunting task of leaving Toowoomba. This time, Sydney bound. We took a cab, Toowoomba Transit, a train, a plane, another train, and then walked to our hostel in Sydney. Nearly 8 hours in total I think. However... I was so excited that it didn't matter how long it took. We met our friend Melissa from home who is studying in Perth. She flew in just a bit later than us, so we waited for her and then took the train into Sydney with her. Once we were in Sydney Lauren and I parted ways with Trina and Melissa, as they were staying with our friend Aaron and his cousin who are also studying in Sydney.
Lauren and I got settled in our room and then walked around the city for a bit. We decided that we wanted to go out that night so the two of us went to a few bars. It was really fun, but it was also really crowded because it was Friday night before the Mardi Gras parade. We decided not to stay out too long because we wanted to get up early to explore all day on Saturday.
While Trina and Melissa went to the beach on Saturday (they were staying right near it) Lauren and I put our walking shoes on and walked aimlessly in the general direction of the Sydney Opera House. On the way we saw lots of very neat shops, and some delicious smelling places to eat. One thing I noticed was how clean Sydney was. There never seemed to be a piece of trash anywhere. Sorry New York and Boston, but Sydney has you beat. As we walked further and further towards the harbor we stumbled upon what looked to be a park. We decided we might as well go in there. Best decision. This park actually turned out to be a HUGE garden with lots of different areas designated for different types of plants. There was a palm tree section, a cactus section, an indigenous to Australia section, and loads more. I could have walked around for hours and maybe still not have seen everything. We did walk around for probably 2 hours or so with our jaws dropped. It was so beautiful.
Now, up until now we have all been saying how it doesn't feel like we're in Australia. Sure everyone speaks with an accent, they drive on the left hand side of the road, and it's warm... but other than that, it's not too much different here. However, this all changed when Lauren and I had been in the gardens for just a few minutes and we saw it. The very top of the Opera House. It was just a sliver of it that we could see... but that's what did it. All the post cards, the pictures, and the videos of the opera house burst into my mind and I realized... I was in Australia. I was actually in Australia. I think I took like 10 pictures of just the tip-top of the opera house... only to find out I would find some of the most stunning views of it in just a few minutes time.
Once we knew where the opera house was in location to us, we decided to go to the furthest part of the gardens for some photos. Once we got as far out towards the harbor as we could, and on the biggest hill, we took some amazing photos of the harbor, the opera house, and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Clearly by then it was enough photos and time to actually see it. Lauren and I followed the path around the edge of the harbor and walked all the way to the OH. Now what happened next absolutely blew my mind, and I never would have imagined this to happen. As we were just outside, Lauren picked up a brochure for a tour. Now, for some reason, I had it in my mind that you couldn't just WALK in to the Sydney Opera House... however we did. I walked to the info booth and asked about the tours and also if any shows we going on that day. The lady told us that the Sydney Symphony was playing in thirty minutes. We bought tickets immediately. So while everyone in their suits and dresses filed into the largest room, the Concert Hall, so did we... in our flip flops, our shorts, and our shirts lightly drenched in sweat from walking in the heat. It didn't seem to matter to us though... we were going to see the symphony... at the Sydney Opera House. Nothing could have been better. Like I said before, Australia didn't seem any different... until we saw the OH. As I sat in the symphony I thought about it, and in my head, I zoomed myself out. I was in the Opera House, in Sydney, in New South Wales, in Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere... I actually realized that I was there. Then I smiled and went back to listening to the amazing music.
After the concert Lauren and I took some photos of the harbor from within the OH. We then walked around Circular Quay (pronounced key) where there are a lot of shops and restaurants. This is also the main harbor for the ferries in Sydney. At this point, it was late afternoon and it was time to go get ready for the parade. Trina and Melissa met us at our hostel and we all got ready. Trina and Melissa had heard that everyone who goes wears lots of neon and colorful clothes... so, without knowing this before we packed, we put on the brightest colors we had, dyed our hair bright pink (temporarily), threw glitter on us, had some wine, and made our way to the parade route. Now, I knew it was going to big... I had heard they were expecting 800,000 people... but I didn't know it was going to be as big as it was. The parade route was probably a few miles long and the entire street was lined with TONS of people. We got there at 6, it didn't start until 7:45, we were about a mile from the start, and already the crowd was 5 or 6 people deep at it's shallowest. I had also read that we should bring milk crates. However... being that I'm friends with the local milkman, or the local dairy... we were SOL on that one... until a very nice, profit oriented, man came and sold us some plastic stools to stand on. We were skeptical (regardless of the fact that even I couldn't see, and I'm over 6 feet) so we asked if we could try the stools. I stood on it and immediately my hand went to my wallet, grabbed a ten, and thrusted it into the man. The girls followed suit. Now that we were two feet taller and could see perfectly over the people in front of us, we were ready to go. For the next few hours we had a great time talking with the people around us, joking, and waiting for the parade to come. Now I've seen a few parades in my day... but this one was absolutely HUGE! There were around 130 floats, and it took 2.5 hours to complete itself. It was amazing, I had such a fabulous time! At the end the crowd crashed down on Oxford Street and the bars opened their doors. We however, made the mistake of going back to change and coming back to Oxford... after almost all the bars reached their capacity. Sadly, we didn't get in anywhere and were forced to go home and end the Mardi Gras party early.
On Sunday we had planned to walk around some more and maybe even do the BridgeClimb... this is when completely sane individuals lose all sense of consciousness, strap themselves onto the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and walk to the top. I probably would have needed a Valium... but we were still going to do it anyway. Until it started raining. We also thought about going up the Sydney Tower (one of the tallest buildings in Australia) to check out the city and the views... but again, because of the rain this plan was 86'd. Instead we took the ferries around the harbor to various places. We saw a very small "Coney Island-Like" amusement park, we had lunch in Darling Harbor, we went shopping, and then we came home to the hostel. At this point we were all incredibly hungry so we went out for dinner. After that we decided that we should probably make up for the night before so we went to a place called the World Bar. What you do at the world bar is you order a large drink and it comes in a teapot with a few shot glasses. So you and your friends pour out the drink into your shot glass and sip. We sat there forever! The atmosphere of the bar was so relaxed... everyone was mellow, the lights were low, and there was terrific music playing. It was great. After that we went across the street to some hotel where there was a larger bar with dance music. We were surprised to find out that when the music shut off, it was 3am. So home we went.
Monday was our last day and we had planned to get up early so we could do the Sydney Tower. We wanted to do the bridge climb, but there wasn't going to be enough time before our flight. But, to fill it's shoes we were going to strap ourselves to the outside of the tower and walk around it. Of course though, when I woke up at 7 (after going to bed at 4) I looked outside it was cloudy and rainy. So again, plans were gone. We used our last few hours to walk around the city, do some shopping, have some food and just try and soak it all in a little more. As the sun was coming back out we were obviously walking on the train, to ride it to the airport, to fly to Brisbane, to hop on another train to the bus station, to take Toowoomba Transit to a cap waiting ever so nicely to take us back to the Student Village. We did have a few hours in Brisbane, so we explored a bit and sat down and had some Japanese food for dinner.
All in all is was an amazing weekend!!! I had so much fun, and I think I am going to try and go back another weekend later in the semester. I still want to do the bridge climb, go up the tower, see the olympic village, and just explore more. I have never been in a city and said that I could live there. Sometimes I say it about Boston, but I hate the cold... so I don't know how that would work. But I said it, and will say it about Sydney. I could live there. Who knows, maybe I'll be back again 18 months after I graduate. Don't freak out mom.
In other news, we booked our tickets last night for NEW ZEALAND! We will be flying from Brisbane to Christchurch on the south island on April 2nd and coming back on April 20th!! I am so excited. Now the chore is coming up with a basic itinerary for the trip... and a budget. ha.
All is well here, hope everyone is doing well!
Miss you all!!
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