DAY 2 – I’m a tourist, I don’t live here!
We woke up at 5am when the sun was coming up, so with the extra time we decided what to do with the day. By 9am we were on the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, which took us around a part of the city and then all the way to Bondi Beach. Kings Cross and beyond looks very funky and quieter than the bustling city. When we got to Bondi Beach our first impressions were “is this it?” don’t get us wrong, it’s a fantastic place but we thought the beach would be longer! We walked in the sand, drew our names in the sand, paddled in the wade, and bought souvenirs at the beach shop! We took some video, had a refreshing fruit juice and then ran for the bus back to town.
On our arrival back into Sydney we went to the Chinese Garden of Friendship which is absolutely stunning, a piece of calm tranquillity in the midst of the bustling city. We then walked around Darling Harbour looking at Captain Cooks “Endeavour” and jumped back on the hop-on/hop-off bus for the second tour that took us more around the city, where we saw for the first time the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House in all their glory! For Lyd this was the moment when it all sunk in that we were indeed in Sydney f**king Australia, on the other side of the world! The bus took us to The Rocks where we wandered around and found an Irish souvenir shop and the oldest licensed bar in Sydney “Fortune of War” so photos and beer were taken! A little walk up the hill we saw a view of the Opera House so we stopped and asked a dude with lunch in his hand to take a photo of us with the Opera House in the background, little did we know how much we would see of this monument in the following week! As tourists do, we walked around a little more then got back on the bus to finish the city tour and went back to the hostel to crash before our night out.
As we were staying in Chinatown we absolutely had to have some Oriental food for dinner, so around the corner from our hostel was the BBQ King restaurant, where Lyd ordered her usual Sweet and Sour Pork balls – her verdict: truly scrumptious! In the restaurant we met an Australian couple who liked to chat and they educated us to the terms ‘Schoolie’ and ‘Toolie’: Schoolie being the teenager who has just finished High School and goes on holiday to places such as the Gold Coast with a group of 15 plus friends, and Toolies are the parents who are not allowed to go with them / near them / try to stop their fun for the duration of the vacation. Interesting concept, and we are glad we didn’t book to go to the Gold Coast for our second week! After the meal we were running late for the theatre so we jumped in a cab that took us right to the Opera House. By night this monument sparkles! We went to see a modern day adaptation of the Taming of the Shrew by Bill Shakey, and it was certainly different, an all female cast being overly dramatic with their gestures and speaking the original Shakespearean language. Even though Lyd can understand it she still had trouble due to the jet lag settling in! After the show we sat outside the Opera House looking at the Harbour Bridge all lit up just taking it all in…
On our arrival back into Sydney we went to the Chinese Garden of Friendship which is absolutely stunning, a piece of calm tranquillity in the midst of the bustling city. We then walked around Darling Harbour looking at Captain Cooks “Endeavour” and jumped back on the hop-on/hop-off bus for the second tour that took us more around the city, where we saw for the first time the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House in all their glory! For Lyd this was the moment when it all sunk in that we were indeed in Sydney f**king Australia, on the other side of the world! The bus took us to The Rocks where we wandered around and found an Irish souvenir shop and the oldest licensed bar in Sydney “Fortune of War” so photos and beer were taken! A little walk up the hill we saw a view of the Opera House so we stopped and asked a dude with lunch in his hand to take a photo of us with the Opera House in the background, little did we know how much we would see of this monument in the following week! As tourists do, we walked around a little more then got back on the bus to finish the city tour and went back to the hostel to crash before our night out.
As we were staying in Chinatown we absolutely had to have some Oriental food for dinner, so around the corner from our hostel was the BBQ King restaurant, where Lyd ordered her usual Sweet and Sour Pork balls – her verdict: truly scrumptious! In the restaurant we met an Australian couple who liked to chat and they educated us to the terms ‘Schoolie’ and ‘Toolie’: Schoolie being the teenager who has just finished High School and goes on holiday to places such as the Gold Coast with a group of 15 plus friends, and Toolies are the parents who are not allowed to go with them / near them / try to stop their fun for the duration of the vacation. Interesting concept, and we are glad we didn’t book to go to the Gold Coast for our second week! After the meal we were running late for the theatre so we jumped in a cab that took us right to the Opera House. By night this monument sparkles! We went to see a modern day adaptation of the Taming of the Shrew by Bill Shakey, and it was certainly different, an all female cast being overly dramatic with their gestures and speaking the original Shakespearean language. Even though Lyd can understand it she still had trouble due to the jet lag settling in! After the show we sat outside the Opera House looking at the Harbour Bridge all lit up just taking it all in…
sounds like they drink a lot less beer than advertised you only went to one bar and it was Irish.. no surprise on that one but isn't going to an Irish bar in Sydney a bit like ordering fish and chips in the costa del sol? I expect you'll help fix their beer industry slump soon enough :) All women cast for ToS mmm having seen the movie with burton/taylor several times (our english teacher was keen) there are a few scenes that must have been a challenge but manimgination fills the gaps :) continue with the bloggy thing nicely written :)