Stephanie in Sydney!!

G'day mates!

Vivid Sydney Opera House

As you all probably know I (Stephanie) took a trip to Australia recently.  My adventure began with a 6 hour wait in the San Francisco airport followed by an hour plane ride to LA and another 5 hour wait for my flight to Sydney.  That wait was well worth it.  I flew standby on Delta Airways and got bumped up to first class on a 15 hour plane ride!  I was so excited and it was funny because I got to fly first class on a long flight before my dad has (teehee).

Someone fishing! across from Bondi Beach

My flight got into Sydney at 6 am.  I got through Customs and Immigration fairly quickly and took a shuttle to meet up with my mom at a hostel called Bounce.  I was incredibly excited to see my mom for the first time in 7 months.

After having a small brekkie, my mom and I headed out to explore. We walked through Paddy's Market then walked to the Broadway Center to meet up with a friend of mine from high school, Stephen, who was conveniently studying abroad in Sydney.  After lunch we went back to Bounce to relax and nap since we planned on going clubbing with Stephen and his friends later that night.

Interesting sculpture on Cockatoo Island

We headed over to The World Bar at 10 pm where we listened to different types of music on 3 different levels and over 5 rooms. We danced for a while then found Stephen and his friends.  We moved to Soho, more of a dancing club than The World Bar, so we danced until 3 am!  Mom and I headed back to the hostel and I crashed immediately.

I was jet lagged for a couple days but that did not stop me from going out.  We explored Circular Quay (pronounced 'key'), the Rocks, the Opera House, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the CBD, Chinatown, and King's Cross. We also had drinks at Kelly's on King, an Irish pub in Newtown.

Lizard in the Royal Botanical Gardens

Tasmanian Devil at Taronga Zoo

There was an awesome light and music festival going on in Sydney called Vivid Sydney. They have light features, fixtures and events located in different places throughout the CBD.  They even light up the Sydney Opera House which you could see from Circular Quay or the Rocks.  At the Rocks they had a fire show synced with Katy Perry's song Firework.  The light and music festival was really awesome.  If you ever go to Sydney I recommend going while this festival is happening.

Mom and Stephanie in Sydney!

My mom and I went on long walks around Manly and Bondi beaches.  The cool part about both walks were that the paths take you pass old cemetaries. Taronga Zoo was exciting (I think I took around 1000 photos!)  At Taronga Zoo you could hang out with the kangaroos and wallabies! They could walk right up to you if they wanted to.

Vivid Sydney octopuses

We took the ferry to Cockatoo Island, an old convict station.  My mom and I were expecting to see cockatoos flying around. Guess what, NO COCKATOOS! I was a bit disappointed because of the name. But the Island was built with some very interesting buildings and structures and had a interesting history.  We walked around Cockatoo island for a couple hours then took the ferry up the Paramatta River where we watch the sunset and a full moon!  No, this moon was not the one up in the sky.  It was, in fact, someone on the path parallel to the river mooning us!

Stephanie sitting on Sydney
model in Customs House

There is so much to do in Sydney and it was definitely worth the trip. More to come on Cairns! (Sorry about the delay.)

Cheers!
Steph