Ok so here goes the first week of my two week vacation from school.....it is a long one so be prepared: The day after the concert I a got on a plane to Sydney to spend a week in the 'must-see' city with my wonderful Aussie sorority sister Ruby Cook. She was kind enough to let me stay with her and her family for a week, plus she gave me a personal tour of her beautiful hometown. Right away when I got there, she met me at the airport, and I was so happy to see her! :) It was really cool to be the one in a different country this time, since the last time I saw her she was in Wisconsin. It was Sunday and I was planning to be there until the following Sunday...we had a full week of plans ahead of us! :)
Sunday: After we got to her house and settled in, I met her family and such, we packed a lunch and headed to the city the spend the rest of the day. We got a family fun pass that allowed us to take the buses trains or ferry for only $2.50 per person-all day. We got the city by train, and as soon as I got out, I saw the Sydney Harbor Bridge! It was GORGEOUS...to say the least. We walked down to Luna Park, which is a park similar to Coney Island that is right on the Harbor, overlooking everything. We walked through, sat and ate our lunch while we enjoyed the view, and took tons of photos. We then got on the ferry to Circular Quay, where the Opera House and main excitement of the city was. We explored and went to the Opera bar for a drink. Throughout the day we witnessed three different weddings that took place near the Harbor, they were beautiful. :) We walked around the city, went to Darling Harbor, Max Brennar (a chocolate cafe that caused me to gain 5 lbs haha, but well worth it), and the Casino in Star City (here I discovered that I liked roulette, don't know if that's a bad thing). We spent a total of 12 hours in the city-a very successful day I must say.
Monday: Ruby took me to see her special beach, the one place she loved to go to get away and relax. It was about a 30 min drive or so, and on the way I was amazed by the landscape and sandstone walls that surrounded the roads, it was pretty cool. We stopped to get some fish and chips (french fries), seemingly appropriate for the beach. We got there and walked over the the rocks and walked all the way out to the end where they were really big and we had a great view of the ocean. The waves were constantly crashing against the rocks, sometimes getting us wet. It was so peaceful- we sunbathed, took photos and a video of the wave soaking us, and we just enjoyed the view. It was a wonderful experience and I was so happy to be the one she could share it with.
Tuesday ('Chooseday' pronounced Aussie style): Ruby, her younger sister Lily, her good friend Hamish, and I all went to the Blue Mountains. We walked a lot and climbed down MILLIONS of stairs the get to the bottom on the mountains. I got to see the 'three sisters' rock formation that goes along with an aboriginal story (which I learned was made up by the government only to get more tourists-wow). It was exhausting, but well worth it, the view was extraordinary :) We all had a great time, and treated ourselves to subway and ice cream afterward! Later that night when we got home, we rewarded ourselves a bit more with a relaxing evening in Ruby's hot tub.
Wednesday: We decided to relax and chill at Ruby's house for the first part of the day. We watched some TV and went on facebook and whatever. The whole family wasn't really home except for Ruby's little sister Lily. Ruby's other younger sister Molly had to go to Uni for her nursing program or something, even though it was holidays. It was really nice getting to know her whole family and staying with them for the week. It made me really miss my family, but at the same time, they made me feel welcome so it was like having a whole new family on the other side of the world :) Ruby's dad is hilarious and he is always being sarcastic, which was perfect because I could just spit it back at him which he enjoyed. Ruby's mom (mum) was extremely nice, one word to describe her would be sweetheart. She was really laid back, but at the same time driven and organized. Of course I can't forget Ruby's puppy Buddy, the cutest dog with an under-bite, so he looked angry but was completely innocent--it really made me miss my puppies at home. I would compare my staying with Ruby's family with staying at a bed and breakfast because it was homey and everyone was courteous, but I never felt awkward or unwelcome in any way. That night we went to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It was basically like the State Fair. There were live farm animals to see and pet, there were food displays with free samples, tons of rides, food stands, and an arenas much like a grandstand where sporting events and rodeos would take place. Ruby, Lily an I walked around and explored everything. The most popular thing at the Easter Show would have to be the showbags. There was this big building with tons of booths selling themed bags from different companies filled with goodies. For example there would be TV show themes, candy brand themes, movie themes, and cartoon themes all containing items such as toys and candy from that theme. I had to get a couple Aussie candy (lolly) showbags for the experience. We went to the rodeo later, where Ruby and I had a blast singing the country music that was playing on the loudspeakers. Afterward there were fireworks and a laser show which was pretty cool.
Thursday: We explored the city a bit more intending to go to Patty's markets to find more gifts and souvenirs to bring back home. Apparently there was tons of stuff and Ruby claimed I would find anything and everything I wanted for a cheaper price. I was all for it! This time to get to the city we decided to walk across the Harbor Bridge ourselves for the view, it was wonderful! I decided not to do the bridge climb because I was getting just as great of an experience without spending the extra $180 to see everything from a higher perspective. It would have been cool, but I decided to pass. We then caught a ferry to go to Manly Beach, where we walked around and explored the small town of Manly (while I excessively enjoying the 'manly' pun on every business name and sign: The Manly Pharmacy, 'Enjoy Manly', and Manly Salon--it was great) WE went to the beach which was just a small oval shaped cove, but it was very charming, and MANLY--okay I will stop. We walked into the city after catching the ferry back the Circular Quay, heading for the markets. On the way we walked through the mall and I looked up and saw the Center Point Tower, we were right below it and it was pretty amazing! Ruby was right about the markets, I found everything I needed and more.
Friday: Friday I got to meet a few of Ruby's good friends when we all went to a Manly Sea Eagles rugby game together. It was so much fun and I grew to love all her friends really fast. One of them actually came to the state to visit Ruby, so I vaguely remembered him: David Wilson. The other guy was Chris Fletcher who I found very entertaining and friendly. I found it very easy to make him laugh with my typical American ways. I found him so cool that I decided to boost his ego and change the stereotypical American saying from "that is so fetch" to "that is soooo FLETCH!" He quite enjoyed it :) The rugby was incredible, and I couldn't believe how aggressive and intense it was. I could hear how hard the hits were from where I was sitting ans they weren't wearing any padding or helmets, it was nuts! I quickly fell in the love with the Sea Eagle team and decided to be a fan (plus they were 'manly'--ok I'm really done now) Naturally I had to buy a jersey to wear with pride in the states, as well as Queensland. After the game, which Manly won :), we were allowed to go out on the field, and coincidentally the song Sweet Caroline starting to play. Ruby and I freaked out with excitement since it was the Theta Phi theme song ("Sweet Theta Phi"), so we got Fletch's gf to videotape us dancing and singing on the field--so perfect! We all went to Mackers (McDonalds) to hang out a bit more after, then went home.
Saturday: I went to Bondi Beach with Ruby an Molly because I just had to see it after all I had heard, It was a beautiful coastline, but the beach itself wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It was cool, but I imagined it to be much bigger. Maybe the experience would have been more rewarding if there were a ton a people there like there usually would be, but it wasn't beach season (even though I thought it was quite warm). I had a blast finally getting to know Molly a bit more since she had the day off. We went to some more markets to get last minute gifts that I couldn't find before, then we went back home for a girl's night. We had planned to go out to King's Cross and party, but we couldn't find a way to get into the city being Easter weekend a lot of transportation was unavailable. So all dressed up, we decided to make a few drinks of our own and we watched Finding Nemo n the media room. I was in Sydney, it HAD to be done! It was cool to say that I could recognize places on the movie and say that I had been there :) We then went to bed, knowing the next morning I had to leave.
Sunday: It was Easter morning at the Cook house! I woke up at 7am to find an empty Easter basket outside my door meant to gather chocolate eggs that were hidden all over the house. I was extremely tired, but so EXCITED! All four of us girls (Me, Ruby, Lily, and Molly) went searching for the hidden candy. It felt like home: a bunch of girls racing to find eggs, separating them after, a little bit of whining and complaining about who gets what, and an Easter breakfast. I couldn't have asked for a better sendoff :) I left around 7:30 to catch my flight to Alice Springs. I said my goodbyes to me Aussie family and Buddy, them headed to the airport with Rubes. We hugged and said goodbye, knowing that I would see her and her family in July when they came to the States for a vacation :) It was so nice to be able to spend time with Ruby and talk to someone about home :) We both have an amazing love for Wisconsin and the Packers, it was refreshing. It was simply the BEST week I have ever had in Australia!
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