This tale of intrigue and wonder begins on Friday afternoon. After class, I met up with another American fellow called Patrick who also lives in IH. Packing for me consisted of throwing a few articles of clothing, some toiletries, and my guidebook in my backpack. Later that weekend, I would find out that I had forgotten a number of essential items, including any extra socks, towel, or shampoo and soap. At least now I will remember for next time. Once ready, Patrick and I headed down to the train station and bought our tickets. The price of a one-way ticket to Sydney is only $18, which isn't too bad. However, certain exchange students are allowed to get a concession sticker which grants discounts on all bus and rail transportation; for them, the cost is only $9. Unfortunately, we did not have this sticker. The trip to Sydney was about three hours. I spent most of the time reading through my guidebook trying to setup some type of tour.
When we arrived in Sydney, we got off the train and walked the four or five blocks to our hostel. As we walked in the door, a few of our friends were in the lobby also checking in. Quite a few of us had been planning on going down and most of them had left early on Friday because they didn't have class. We checked in and headed up to our room. The room we booked is called The Church, because it's a large 28-person dorm with 14 bunkbeds and three stained glass windows. You might think you would go crazy in a room like that, but it was actually pretty quiet, and for $13 a night, who can argue?!
This picture gives you an idea of the layout of the room. It was really cool when the sun came up and the only light was through the stained glass windows.Once we were all settled, we headed down to the lobby to see what was planned for the night. The hostel we were staying at, called Westend, has a different activity for every day of the week, and they often involve freebies or discounts. Friday happened to be free wine and cheese night in the lounge. Granted, it was just a couple boxes of wine (which the Australian's invented by the way) and stock cheddar cheese cubes on cheap crackers, but remember, we only paid $13. In the lounge, we met a bloke from Texas called Max who had been working Brisbane for a few months and was on holiday in Sydney for a week before returning home. He had traveled alone so he would be joining us the next day on our adventures. After both the wine sacks were gone, the staff led us all over to a bar called Scubar, where we got all you can eat pizza for $10 and discounts on drinks. We also went to another bar called Side Bar, which had more of a dance scene. We danced the night away and ran into a ton of other students from Newcastle who also happened to be in Sydney.
The next morning, I was kind of appointed group tour guide, as I had looked into all the sights and activities. Everyone was pretty keen on my suggestions, as most of them were free. The general plan way to wind our way North through the city ending up on the Harbour to see the Opera House and Bridge. But first was the pressing issue of our rumbling tummies. We went to an Irish pub for an Irish breakfast: toast with sunny side up eggs, and lots of bacon and sausage. After filling up, we headed over to Paddy's Markets, which was your standard flea market with cheap products abounding. One of the most interesting items we came across were stuffed kangaroo arms for backscratchers and even more interesting, stuffed kangaroo testicles which were bottle openers and lighters (seen below).
Now, I for one don't really like these markets because it's all cheap stuff and I feel like you can find them anywhere. Once we got out of there, it was time to see some real sights. I directed the group first over to Hyde Park and the ANZAC Memorial. Hyde Park is a pretty large park in the middle of the city and the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) Memorial is dedicated to those who served in WWI. Next we headed over to St. Mary's Cathedral, which was quite impressive, inside and out.
(Just a note that any pictures on this blog can be enlarged by clicking on them)
After St. Mary's we steered our way up towards the Royal Botanical Gardens, which cover quite a large area. The signs there say things like "Please walk on the grass and feel free to hug the trees." It was a beautiful sunny day. One of the hottest we have experienced yet, though also quite windy at times. The lawns at the Gardens were littered with people napping, picnicking, and playing sports. One interesting thing were the thousands of huge bats hanging in the trees. It was a little odd to see bats flying around in the middle of the day. We walked to a point in the Gardens right on the Harbour where we finally got our first glimpses of the canonical Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. After strolling around and taking copious amounts of pictures, we headed in for a closer look.
Most of us were surprised to see that the Opera House is actually layered with tiles. I had always thought it was concrete, but I related to the group the knowledge from my guidebook: designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, the Opera House's 67-meter-high roof features over 27,000 tons of Swedish tiles-- over 1,056,000 of them. The Opera House hosts 2,400 events annually (about six and a half per day!) at a cost of around $40 million.
We met up with some other Newcastle people and headed inside for a look around. There was a TV screen showing a live performance in the main concert hall. A girl from our group was inquiring about seeing a show in late August when she returned. After telling us about the various shows and us wincing at the prices, the sales person told us about a comedy called "The 39 Steps," which was not yet in season so the prices were cheaper. He informed us that there a show was to start in 20 minutes, and that yes, there was a student discount! For only $26 each, we got to see a production at the Sydney Opera House! The show was an adaptation of a Hitchcock movie, which was based off an old novel. We really had no idea going into the show what the plot was or anything like that, but we just couldn't pass up the deal. It turned out to be a hilarious and fun production, much akin to a Monty Python movie, as the cast consisted of only four characters, quickly changing outfits, characters, and accents, sometimes doing two characters on stage at once! All-in-all, it was an excellent production and a terrific deal.
We got out of the play after the sun had set. We were a little disappointed because we had hoped to walk along the Bridge as it went down, but there will be other opportunities. We did end up getting some awesome night shots, as the city looks spectacular after dark.
We wandered around a bit looking for a cheap place to eat, until we found a fast-food type place with homemade pizza and kebabs. We headed back to our hostel and prepared for another night out. I don't remember if I realized it Saturday night or the night before, but I had forgotten to pack any extra socks, so I had to put the same dirty pair back on in order to go out. You can't wear thongs (flip-flops) into bars here. That night the hostel took us to a bar called The Gaff, where we got some more discounts on drinks. At about 10pm, we were informed that the downstairs was open. We didn't even realize there was a downstairs, but we headed down underground to a place of stone walls and arches. It was another fun night and we danced lots and again saw people from our Uni.
The next morning, a bunch of people went to the morning Mass at St. Mary's. I wasn't really interested and opted to sleep in, but they said it was an interesting experience. Sunday's plan was a little more relaxed and less structured. We first headed over to Darling Harbour on the West side of downtown. There were lots of people out, as it was another gorgeous day. There was a boat show going on with lots of fancy yachts, but you had to pay to get in, so we steered clear. We walked around that area for a bit before getting some fish and chips for lunch. We hopped on a ferry and took a short ride around the bend to Circular Quay (pronounced "key") where we had another great view of the Opera House and went right under the Bridge. After paying for our "child" tickets at the automated machines, we headed up to walk across the Bridge, where we were treated to more astounding views. There is an option to actually climb the top of the bridge for one of the best views in the city, but it's at least $175 and takes about three hours. We were happy with our view and the walk across. By now, my feet were starting to get tired; I had been walking around in thongs the past two days. We decided to head back to the hostel and go home.
The train back to Newcastle seemed a lot longer than the way to Sydney. Mike posited that it was because we had no anticipation of getting there. Perhaps so. Overall, it was an outstanding weekend, and I hope there are more to come. Already next weekend we have our big surf trip with all of the Australearn students. I think it will be a good way to catch up with a lot of the people that I haven't seen much in the past few weeks. Well, its almost 2:30am now and I've been writing this for at least two hours. With class tomorrow for most of the day, I think it's time to sign off. More to come.
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