Week 17: I Found Nemo!

G'day mates! Reminder that I'm a week behind on blogging, so this post is about my adventures in Sydney from Oct 22-29.

Chenay and I were ravenous before our 12-hour bus ride and ran to Subway to get a sandwich for the journey. Little did we know, hot food was not allowed on board, and our stickler driver told us he was not afraid to simply drop us off on the side of the road if we didn't obey his rules. Terrified but also starving, we sneakily took bites of our footlongs. Chenay had onions in hers and as we all know, they are pungent, so safe to say the entire bus smelled like them. Somehow we managed to finish our subs and dispose of the evidence (wrappers) without being caught.

The ride was mainly on a two-lane road and by the time the sun rose the following morning I was exhausted and ready to get out. Some loser hit the bus' mirror and drove away, and our driver was livid but not surprised; apparently the roads are too narrow for buses to fit. Chenay and I grabbed a bite to eat and I literally took a nap in the café.

We checked into the Central YHA which was located in Chinatown and about a 35-minute walk down to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). As soon as we locked up our luggage we explored, getting up close and personal with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. There are also these beautiful trees with purple petals (see photo) all around Oz called Jacarandas and there were a bunch at the Quay so we had an impromptu photo shoot. We were so lucky to come right as they bloomed!

There were also Australian white ibises all around – or as Chenay called them, "Australian pigeons". They have massive beaks and are pretty big. I'm not a fan. They tried to steal my seafood & chips! Rude! There were also these awful crows that literally sounded like children wailing.

As true backpackers do, we found a public toilet and refreshed ourselves. It's kind of hilarious to be in the Museum of Contemporary Arts brushing your teeth, spraying dry shampoo into your greasy hair, and deodorizing your smelly pits. We then checked out the Museum as it was free entry. We had to wear our large backpacks on the front so we wouldn't accidentally knock over any of the art. Naturally, we looked like complete idiots.

Later we stumbled upon an outdoor market where Chenay got a pic with some random obscure musician she follows on Spotify. I spent way too long deciding if I wanted to buy something for myself and ended up getting some gifts for others. Wow, look at me go – so selfless! Hahaha.

Back at our hostel we met Rachel from Newcastle, England, whom I would later run into once I switched hostels. To Chenay's dismay, we had a different, very smelly roommate she believed was homeless. Either way, she definitely had never heard of a shower. Did you know dry shampoo doubles as air freshener?

The next day, after a deep sleep despite the fact that our room smelled like an alleyway, we walked down to Circular Quay and took a ferry across the harbor to the Taronga Zoo. It was pretty cheap and a blast! We even got to ride a gondola up to the top and back down again – the views of the Opera House and Bridge were out of this world!

We saw all the animals. Except for the tigers. Which I'm pretty salty about. (By the way the exhibit was advertised we had thought it was a simulated ride not legit tigers. Found out by others later that it was actually really cool and you got to be really close to them. Damn!)

We saw the typical giraffes, seals, gorillas, elephants (including a baby!), farm animals, and then many native animals like wombats, spiders, snakes, Tasmanian Devils, emus, kangaroos, wallabies, penguins, pygmy hippos, and koalas. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my picture taken holding a koala, but I am doing a "koala cuddle" tour soon and I'm psyched!

We spent a solid four hours at the zoo and it was so much fun! It seems to be a pretty great place for rehabilitation and conservation. It also has insane views of the harbor.

On our way out, Chenay and I saw a guy wearing a Sun Devil backpack and ASU shorts and hounded him but he couldn't hear us (or we were too awkward).

We suffered through one more night of a stinky hostel before checking out the next morning. Sadly, I said farewell to Chenay who had to fly back to NZ to take a final, and then was going home, back to Arizona.

And just like that, I was on my own in a foreign place again!

Our hostel-mate Rachel had informed us of a 5-night deal happening at the YHA on The Rocks, which is the area near Circular Quay. I decided to book a room there in a four-bed mixed room with a private bathroom.

I walked the forty minutes with my luggage and finally arrived sweaty and tired. But I was so glad I switched hostels! This one had a spacious lounge area, huge kitchen, and spectacular rooftop views of the Opera House! It also had an archaeological vibe as it was built on top of "the Big Dig" excavation site. There were glass boxes with neat artifacts in them around the hostel. My room was super new and the bathroom was nice. I felt like I was at a swanky hotel! Plus, the location was prime – right by the ferries and all the action.

Excited to go out and explore, I started by walking across the Harbour Bridge. You can pay extra to climb it but let me just say, it was already shaky on the walking path, and I did not want to know how windy it was up there! I went down to Circular Quay for lunch and just took it all in: the bustling people (it was clear who was a tourist and who was a true Sydneysider), the myriad ferries, the street musicians. I really fell in love with Sydney.

I paid for an Opal Card, which grants you access to buses, trams, and even the ferries. It's actually a simple yet genius way to organize public transportation. You simply tap on when you get on, and tap off when you exit. Topping up is easy – there are heaps of ATM-looking kiosks or you can do it from your phone.

Yearning for the beach, I caught a bus to Coogee, which is about a forty-minute ride. The beach was beautiful and it was so nice to soak up the sun, sipping on Australia's own Bundaberg lemon, lime & bitters.

After relaxing for a bit and checking out the local shops, I began the two-hour Coogee to Bondi (pronounced "Bond-eye") coastal walk. It's rated as one of the most scenic walks and it did not disappoint! Between the views of the Tasman, the bunch of beaches you pass, the tons of hoomans walking their doggos, and the bizarrely beautiful Waverley Cemetery, it was awesome. There was also an art festival happening, with a variety of cool sculptures splattered around the end of the walk.

I ate dumplings for dinner, had Ben & Jerry's for dessert, and watched the sun set on Bondi. 'Twas a fantastic day!

The following day on The Rocks, I noticed there was a NSW Writers Walk around the Opera House. Circular plaques with info on famous Aussie or Aussie-inspired writers from around the globe were displayed around the wharfs and Opera House.

I saw a seal doing corkscrews in the water right by the Opera House! He looked so happy to be sunbathing. I waited for a Great White to come and eat him whole, but sadly that never happened. (I'm horrible).

I strolled around the incredible Royal Botanic Gardens that neighbor the Opera House. I saw the biggest trees I've ever seen – ficus macrophylla. The trunks were ENORMOUS – probably two to four yards thick at some points! I walked along the coast to Mrs. Macquarie's Point. I sat on Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, cut into the sandstone rock, staring where she, the wife of the governor of NSW, spent most of her time pining for her home in England.

There were small jellyfish around the harbor as I perused the names of the boats before walking all the way back to my hostel. I sat on the rooftop balcony listening to Aussie-native Keith Urban in headphones as the sun set, the golden light illuminating the Opera House spectacularly.

Just as dusk came, the bats woke up! It looked like they appeared on the horizon, tiny black specks until they were right overhead and pretty big. Surely much larger than any bat I've seen in MA or AZ.

Thursday I walked to the Art Gallery of NSW (Mimi are you proud of me?!). It was free to the public, and featured both old traditional works and modern ones. Afterwards I made my way over to St. Mary's Cathedral, which was stunning. The upper windows were a honey color and filtered the light so it was really warm and inviting.

Side note, I forgot that Uggs were from Australia. They have heaps of stores here and some pretty good sales, although I didn't purchase anything.

I headed away from Circular Quay, the Gardens, the Museums, and into the city where I went window shopping for a while at Queen Victoria's Building, a massive mall with fancy stores.

Back at the hostel I ran into Rachel, the British backpacker from the first YHA hostel who had informed me about the deal. We ate dinner and got to know each other. She's been traveling since March and has been all over the place, including to South Africa, where her BF is from. So jealous!

We headed up to the free wine & cheese night and enjoyed the views of the harbor – they really never get old. I met a lovely woman from Vancouver, named Sabrina, who up and left home and lived in Hawaii for eight months before venturing over to the Southern Hemisphere. It was so nice to drink wine, look at the views, and bond with other adventurous people from around the globe!

Afterwards, I tipsily tried to find my way to the movie theater, where I had bought a ticket to Thor. It started to drizzle and I gave up and splurged on an Uber (OK it was $10 but I'm cheap!) Freddy the Uber driver was Colombian and anyone who knows me knows that a drop of alcohol will get me speaking in Spanish or with some random accent. We chatted en español sobre muchas cosas, y he said he'd give me "ocho estrallas si puede".

Nervous I'd be late, I ran around like a madwoman trying to find the theater, which turned out to be independent (read: tiny). There were probably no more than 50 seats in total (which you reserved upon booking), and I had an entire row to myself! It was super classy. The screen was a lot smaller but it made it a more intimate screening. I freaking loved Thor! It was hilarious! I also definitely felt that I could appreciate the humor of Taika Waititi – the Kiwi director. There were many Kiwis and Aussies in the film, and it felt special that I was seeing it in the country where it was filmed before it premiered in the States.

I walked forty minutes home at around midnight and felt completely safe.

Friday I had booked a tour to the Blue Mountains and had an early start. There were six others on the tour with me; two couples from LA (in their late sixties), and one couple from Houston (in their mid-fifties). One of the Californian men had graduated from ASU back when it was a party school – how small is the world?! His daughter is the PR director for a humane society in CA...freaky because that's what I study and I volunteer at an animal shelter in AZ! Mark was our tour guide and driver.

Throughout the day I bonded with everyone – there was a bit of banter about the Astros versus Dodgers, some discussion of the natural disasters that have hit Texas and Cali, and a lot of talk about American politics (read: old white man telling me why he's conservative and how California is "left of left" and me confused thinking, then why not move if you're so against it? "Elizabeth Warren is a communist," "Not a lot you can do with a journalism degree now that print is dying," "When you hang around college professors you lean left and then you get robbed or beaten and change – but that's just my view," "I don't like Trump but he's the president so I won't disrespect him, but I don't want to get involved". *coughcoughwhiteprivilegecoughcough*

You get the point.

But politics aside, they were all super nice to me and interested in what I had to say and I really liked chatting with the couple from Houston.

Our first stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park, an Aussie animal rehabilitation center. We got to pet and feed wallabies and roos! It was magical and it tickled! Three of the wallabies had joeys in their pouches! We saw koalas and three had babies! My heart melted. You could also feed the emus. I saw a croc, some cool birds including a Barking Owl that sounds EXACTLY like a dog (seriously people look it up!), and heard a pack of dingoes arooing! It was hard to say goodbye, but we had other things to do.

Mark was full of facts – including that Australia has the largest population of camels in the world! We learned about the Kookaburra and I was told that a gum tree is a eucalyptus tree, and that you don't make chewing gum out of it.

We stopped at four lookouts with breathtaking views of the Blue Mountains, that, true to their name, appear deep navy due to light particles or something like that. We stopped at Echo Point and saw The Three Sisters, a natural rock formation that has deep spiritual meaning for the Aboriginals.

For lunch we stopped in a village called Katoomba, and I had a delicious and large serving of pad thai, explored an antique shop, and checked out the Katoomba Cultural Center. We then had a pit stop for Tim Tams (they were on sale) and continued on our tour.

The couple from Houston and I did a brief "rainforest" walk down in the valley, while the others waited in the van. They were not physically able to complete the steep climb.

Overall the views were great and it was fun listening to Mark's commentary.

We drove by Sydney Olympic Park on the way back, home of the 2000 Olympic Games. Then we said bye to Mark, boarded a boat, and cruised down the Parrametta River, under the Harbour Bridge, and into the harbor for the conclusion of another wonderful day.

I met up with Rachel and we ate dinner and then checked out the free light show they put on at the Opera House when it's dark out. It was short but really pretty! We then decided we'd have a go at clubbing. We first went to the oldest pub in Sydney, the Fortune of War. Pretty sure the original patrons were all still there; we were the youngest people inside. The musician was good so we stayed for a few songs, finished our beers, and then headed out to explore. After walking around for a while we ended up checking out some really swanky places that had way overpriced drinks but YOLO. I think they were called Ivy and Establishment but don't quote me. We got Maccas for drunk snacking and ate back in our hostel. Rachel's heading to NZ around the same time as me, so hopefully we can meet up there!

The next day I did a load of laundry for $8. I met a guy in my hostel room from Long Island who goes to Temple and was wearing a Bar Harbor shirt. I ferried over to Manly Beach and although it was chilly, lounged on the beach and walked around the main street. I got a burrito bowl from Guzman y Gomez and it was tasty. There were heaps of awesome live musicians to listen to!

As I was sitting on the edge of the boardwalk, Sabrina ran into me! We ate pizza and drank beer at a pub – cheers for the pint, Sabrina! Then we walked around the wharf where the locals were all drinking and picnicing by the shore. Sabrina and I parted ways and I took the night ferry home.

On the ferry I met a woman from Michigan who had been proposed to just hours before by her Australian now fiancé! She showed me the ring and I took their first picture as an engaged couple with the Harbour Bridge lit up in the background. Talk about romantic!

After a fun day I packed up all my stuff and went to bed, hoping for a few hours of shuteye before my 6:00AM flight to Brisbane the next morning.

Up Next: Brissy & Noosa!