Sydney

Welcome November!
I just realised this will be the first post of the month. October was a busy time, especially in the way of assignments and now I'm in the home stretch with only 10 days til I fly back to Canada.
What have I been doing since my last post? I went on a long weekend trip to Sydney with my friend Britain (from East London) and her friend LA, from the states. We had a great time!

Our hostel was a block away from Bondi Beach- lucky me when your alarm clock is the sound of waves and you can wake up to this sight!

I got up very early one morning when I heard that was the best time to watch surfers. I think surfers are amazing. Mostly because I'm very afraid of becoming shark bait, let alone battling currents and massive waves. They were very entertaining to watch and I have vowed to overcome my fears and try it when I get back in February.

In typical tourist style, I bought and Aussie beach towel :)

This is one of the many graffetti paintings along the boardwalk on the beach. Shark attack!!

On the ferry with the Sydney Bridge in the background

Sydney's public transit system includes ferries! "I have a thing for ferryboats" (only Grey's Anatomy lovers will understand this). They take you all around to different points. We travelled to Manly Beach on the first full day there. It was a really cute little city and the beach was nice because it was in a cove with very small waves so you could swim a bit. 

Writing Sydney in the sand on Manly Beach

Climbing the rocks along the coast with the city of Manly in the background

We of course had to visit the Sydney Opera House, which always makes me think of The Amazing Race and Mission Impossible 2 because, well, that's the only time I've really seen it! We were too cheap to do a tour but went inside and took a bathroom pic in the mirror for proof!

Beautiful sunset in Circular Quay where the Opera House stands

One evening we visited Darling Harbour, which I loved even more than the Opera House actually. So many restaurants and shops line the harbour and you can grab some ice cream and hang your feet over the dock. It's lit up beautifully at night. There is also a Chinese Friendship Garden nearby, which is where we found these beautifully lit fountains and trees as well as playgrounds.

Britain and I at Darling Harbour

At Luna Park fair grounds in the Sydney Harbour. I won a small stuffed whale by putting balls into the mouth of this guy beside me. I'm actually glad I didn't win a larger prize, how would I have got it home?!

Reaching for the big teeth above

Sorry that this photo is sideways! While waiting in line to get back to Melbourne we spotted Adrian Grenier! He plays character Vinny Chase in the show Entourage. He was on his way to see the Melbourne Cup. First the Team Canada Rugby team and now this celebrity sighting! I was so excited as I'm a major fan of the show.

We also took a trip to the Blue Mountains, but I'll blog about that separately as they pack enough into these day trips to make for a lot of memories. All in all a wonderful weekend away, packed with excitement.