Aye Aye Mates! :) Just a quick note to everyone... Pedro and I arrived in The Top End-Darwin today after having 2 amazing days in Ayers Rock. I have incredible stories to tell and pictures to share but the internet both at Ayers Rock and here in Darwin does not allow me to use my own computer so I can't post the pictures for you, and its really expensive so I can't write all my journal entries! So, you will have to wait a few more days till we get to Cairns to hear about all our adventures. Tomorrow, we go on a real 4WD Safari to the Outback for an overnight camping trip. Darwin so is far amazing! It is warm, tropical, and there are really nice bars and pubs everywhere! They were crowded at 5pm today!
Well, we are off to get some fresh fish for dinner and out to the pubs!
I hope everyone is doing well back home and we miss you and are thinking about you!!
Dawn and Pedro :)
Friday, June 8, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
June 5th, 2007 Blue Mountains Journal Entry
Today we woke up early and hopped on a country train a block from the hostel. The train took us through a 2 hour ride out to the “Blue Mountains”. It was a nice ride through the outskirts of Sydney and into the mountains. When we arrived at the Blue mountains, we took a “hop on-hop off” bus tour that took you through these two cute towns and different sites to lookout throughout the mountains. It was very much a “touristy” town, but really nice and quiet. It reminded me of Asheville, NC. We took the bus to one of the major stops and here we did three things. We took the Skyway across this huge valley to the other side. We took the steepest railway supposedly in the world down the mountain, and we took a Cableway to ride back up the mountain. Let me say we put a lot of trust into these trips!! We got to walk through different trails to waterfalls, through a rainforest, and more. The views were absolutely spectacular! They claim that this valley is larger and older than our Grand Canyon. The most unique thing about the mountains is the picture you see called the “Three Sisters”. These structures in the mountains date way back to an ancient story with the Aboriginal people. Its about three daughters that wanted to marry outside the tribe and their father decided to turn them into stone because of this. I’m sure there is a lot more to it but that’s what we can remember!!
After visiting the mountains for about 5 hours, we took the train ride home and enjoyed our last night in Sydney. We head off to Ayers Rock, a holy rock of the Aborginal people in the morning and then up to Darwin on June 8th.
After visiting the mountains for about 5 hours, we took the train ride home and enjoyed our last night in Sydney. We head off to Ayers Rock, a holy rock of the Aborginal people in the morning and then up to Darwin on June 8th.
Blue Mountains, Australia
The Cableway
The steepest rollar coaster down the mountains.
Real HOT chocolate!! It was delicious!!
Pedro and his latte!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Journal Entry for June 3rd, 4th
June 3rd, 2007
We arrived at Sydney during the sunrise around 6:30AM. We took a shuttle it to the Sydney Central YHA Hostel. The first thing that was different was they drive on the left side of the road here and the driver sits in the right side where we are used to the passenger sitting. It was definitely a strange feeling riding in the shuttle bus this way. It’s also interesting how you have to change the way you look both ways when you want to cross the road. We’ve definitely come close to getting hit because of this! Ha!
We arrived at our Hostel which is actually really nice. In America, we don’t really have many hostels and what we do have have bad reputations. Interestingly, here, they are all over the place and are actually really nice. They remind me of typical up scale college dorms. Some have private baths, others have shared baths. They have events that take place every night such as “beer and roo (kangaroo)” on the top of the building.
After arriving, even though we were exhausted, our adrenaline kicked in and we went out to explore the city. We walked about 2 miles down to what is called “The Rocks” and Circular Quay, and this is where one of the popular areas is the hang out. This is the place where all the ferries take off from the Sydney Harbour and you can see the Sydney Opera House and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. There are many cute restaurants and bars that line the water where you can sit outside and eat. There were people everywhere for a Sunday afternoon and even till 10:00 at night, the place was still hopping. After walking down here, Pedro and I had breakfast at a cute restaurant near a Market where they had live music playing and all these little artsy shops. We then walked back to the hostel and went to a place called the Padi Market. Here, this was a place where tons of people flock to buy cheap goods, food, and stuff. It reminded me of the Flea Market.
We then went back and got ready for the Sydney Orchestra show at the Opera House. This was absolutely incredible. The place was full with people, and it was beautiful! The Orchestra played amazing. Interestingly, we met this nice couple who have been living in Sydney for 10 years now and they told us about some good things to do around here. And, even more interestingly, they offered us a ride home!! We didn’t take it because we still needed to have dinner, but it was so nice of them to offer us this.
After the Orchestra show, we sat at one of the cute restaurants on the water overlooking the Sydney Harbour bridge. One thing I will note that we all in America should appreciate is the service we get when we eat dinner. Here and from what Pedro described in Europe it’s the same. Basically, they come up to you and say “are you ready to order?”. They don’t introduce themselves, they don’t offer to get you a drink first. The size of the drinks are sooo small, and they don’t refill them! Last, if you want your check, you have to ask for it..they don’t bring it to you. It’s definitely a different experience, but in the end, you are not required to tip here which is maybe why they serve the way they do!
June 4th, 2007
Today, we woke up pretty late around 9:00. Yes, everyone…I slept in until Pedro’s time. J. We had breakfast at a cute French cuisine place where they had every pastry under the sun. Pedro had some sort of tuna croissant. To me, this sounded disgusting for a morning breakfast, but he liked it! After breakfast, we started our journey to explore more of Sydney. We took a ferry ride from Circular Quay along the Harbour to the famous zoo called the Taronga Zoo. Here, we saw sooo many Australian animals. We paid a small fee to have a volunteer take us around and explain all the different Australian animals and it was well worth it. He was the nicest old guy and knew his stuff. We saw the koalas which were very cute just hanging out up in the trees basking in the sun. Interestingly, we got to walk through the place where they keep the kangaroos. They came within half a foot of us. Did you know that there are multiple types of kangaroos? And, the way they breed is very interesting, but I can share more of those details with you later. We moved on to see the platypus. This was Pedro’s favorite. At first, we couldn’t find them, but then they came out. They were a lot smaller than I expected. Did you know that if a platypus claws you they have poisonous venom in their claws that works very similar to snake venom. We even saw white pelicans and black swans!
We then took the ferry back to the Circular Quay and walked around the Sydney Botanical Gardens which is a huge park right on the water with all kinds of plants, flowers, etc. They even had tons of live Cockatoos just walking around! Pedro got chased by one that wanted to peck his feet! I’ve never seen these outside of the pet store.
After the gardens, we walked to the Bridge and walked across it. This bridge was unique in that it had these guard rails that were protected like what they use in jails. Plus, they have security that walks up and down it. You could also participate in the Bridge climb where you climb to the top of the bridge but to me. They have to put on these special suits and have harnesses that lock you to the bridge as your climbing. It looked a little to scary for me, plus, it costs 150.00, so we decided not to do it. The view from where we were on the bridge was still spectacular! But, the view was spectacular.
The city is absolutely amazing! I hope these pictures will show you this!
It is Monday night here and all of you should be just waking up so I hope you have a wonderful week! We are thinking about you!
We arrived at Sydney during the sunrise around 6:30AM. We took a shuttle it to the Sydney Central YHA Hostel. The first thing that was different was they drive on the left side of the road here and the driver sits in the right side where we are used to the passenger sitting. It was definitely a strange feeling riding in the shuttle bus this way. It’s also interesting how you have to change the way you look both ways when you want to cross the road. We’ve definitely come close to getting hit because of this! Ha!
We arrived at our Hostel which is actually really nice. In America, we don’t really have many hostels and what we do have have bad reputations. Interestingly, here, they are all over the place and are actually really nice. They remind me of typical up scale college dorms. Some have private baths, others have shared baths. They have events that take place every night such as “beer and roo (kangaroo)” on the top of the building.
After arriving, even though we were exhausted, our adrenaline kicked in and we went out to explore the city. We walked about 2 miles down to what is called “The Rocks” and Circular Quay, and this is where one of the popular areas is the hang out. This is the place where all the ferries take off from the Sydney Harbour and you can see the Sydney Opera House and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. There are many cute restaurants and bars that line the water where you can sit outside and eat. There were people everywhere for a Sunday afternoon and even till 10:00 at night, the place was still hopping. After walking down here, Pedro and I had breakfast at a cute restaurant near a Market where they had live music playing and all these little artsy shops. We then walked back to the hostel and went to a place called the Padi Market. Here, this was a place where tons of people flock to buy cheap goods, food, and stuff. It reminded me of the Flea Market.
We then went back and got ready for the Sydney Orchestra show at the Opera House. This was absolutely incredible. The place was full with people, and it was beautiful! The Orchestra played amazing. Interestingly, we met this nice couple who have been living in Sydney for 10 years now and they told us about some good things to do around here. And, even more interestingly, they offered us a ride home!! We didn’t take it because we still needed to have dinner, but it was so nice of them to offer us this.
After the Orchestra show, we sat at one of the cute restaurants on the water overlooking the Sydney Harbour bridge. One thing I will note that we all in America should appreciate is the service we get when we eat dinner. Here and from what Pedro described in Europe it’s the same. Basically, they come up to you and say “are you ready to order?”. They don’t introduce themselves, they don’t offer to get you a drink first. The size of the drinks are sooo small, and they don’t refill them! Last, if you want your check, you have to ask for it..they don’t bring it to you. It’s definitely a different experience, but in the end, you are not required to tip here which is maybe why they serve the way they do!
June 4th, 2007
Today, we woke up pretty late around 9:00. Yes, everyone…I slept in until Pedro’s time. J. We had breakfast at a cute French cuisine place where they had every pastry under the sun. Pedro had some sort of tuna croissant. To me, this sounded disgusting for a morning breakfast, but he liked it! After breakfast, we started our journey to explore more of Sydney. We took a ferry ride from Circular Quay along the Harbour to the famous zoo called the Taronga Zoo. Here, we saw sooo many Australian animals. We paid a small fee to have a volunteer take us around and explain all the different Australian animals and it was well worth it. He was the nicest old guy and knew his stuff. We saw the koalas which were very cute just hanging out up in the trees basking in the sun. Interestingly, we got to walk through the place where they keep the kangaroos. They came within half a foot of us. Did you know that there are multiple types of kangaroos? And, the way they breed is very interesting, but I can share more of those details with you later. We moved on to see the platypus. This was Pedro’s favorite. At first, we couldn’t find them, but then they came out. They were a lot smaller than I expected. Did you know that if a platypus claws you they have poisonous venom in their claws that works very similar to snake venom. We even saw white pelicans and black swans!
We then took the ferry back to the Circular Quay and walked around the Sydney Botanical Gardens which is a huge park right on the water with all kinds of plants, flowers, etc. They even had tons of live Cockatoos just walking around! Pedro got chased by one that wanted to peck his feet! I’ve never seen these outside of the pet store.
After the gardens, we walked to the Bridge and walked across it. This bridge was unique in that it had these guard rails that were protected like what they use in jails. Plus, they have security that walks up and down it. You could also participate in the Bridge climb where you climb to the top of the bridge but to me. They have to put on these special suits and have harnesses that lock you to the bridge as your climbing. It looked a little to scary for me, plus, it costs 150.00, so we decided not to do it. The view from where we were on the bridge was still spectacular! But, the view was spectacular.
The city is absolutely amazing! I hope these pictures will show you this!
It is Monday night here and all of you should be just waking up so I hope you have a wonderful week! We are thinking about you!
Sydney Harbour and Circular Quay
The restaurants along the Harbour
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Opera House
The streets of Sydney-drive on the left side!!
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