So after that last wonderful post, things are going a lot smoother now! We decided that we would much rather spend the night sprawled out on airport benches than stay in a crack-addict terror motel. Our shuttle came and picked us up just after 4am and we were looking forward to checking our baggage, going back up to our terminal, eating airport food and making a nice camp out for the 18 hours before our flight. How silly of us to think that things would actually go smoothy from there and not be torturous! Once at the airport we realized with great disappointment that we could not be able to check our baggage in until 6 pm and so our home became some rickety plastic benches with no food or entertainment. In retrospect, we are laughing at this incident and our first world problems really weren’t anything to write home about (see Dad, I still have your awful humor even when you aren’t around) but by the time we checked our bags and made it up to the terminal with slightly comfier chairs and food, we were ecstatic!
The flight went smooth and surprisingly quick as I slept for almost 10 hours, which is extremely impressive for me! The meals were interesting. For dinner they served an option of chicken, beef or pot roast. Steph and I both decided on the chicken, which was in some weird, oddly tangy sauce served with undercook (more like uncooked) rice and a hard roll. We passed about an hour drinking some wine and coloring in our coloring book (we got some odd looks for that, I think they were just jealous), I slept for a good 8 hours, before walking up to a breakfast of a cheddar omelet and what they said was potatoes but what I think was leftover pot pie mixed with cauliflower mixed with soup and baked a little.
Once we landed, we cleared customs in a breeze which surprised me since I had expected there to be problems with my visa (There was no reason for there to be problems with me visa, I just tend to always think the worst). We took the train to our hostel, dropped off our bags since it was too early to check in and then took off to explore the city! Our first stop was the harbor where I took about a thousand pictures of the opera house and harbor bridge, because it is completely necessary to have a picture from every angle (Thank goodness for digital cameras). We adventured over the bridge to North Sydney but other than Luna Park (Mary-Kate and Ashley anyone?) there wasn’t much to do there so we took a ferry back to the harbor. We then decided to go around the harbor twice because it was so beautiful.....and because we were tired and the boat had free Wi-fi. I love how beautiful the architecture is! The old houses are so detailed and I can’t help but wish that I knew more of the history of the city. We were lucky enough to have clear blue skies, although that just gave me an excuse to take more pictures. We went to a cafe for lunch and then walked over to Darling harbor, of course going on a little misadventure was necessary. The people here all seem to be in such a rush to get somewhere and no one smiles. In that way, it seemed a lot like the States. At Darling Harbor, we wandered around the warf and then went to the Sydney Wildlife park. My favorite animals were the koalas and the wallabies. I though that I would love the kangaroos, but they all looked so grumpy and mean! Nothing like A.A. Milne made Kanga and Roo look like!
After that, I started to not feel very well so we decided that it would probably be best if we headed back to the hostel to get some rest so that we don’t get ourselves run down. Neither of us have showered since disney so we both feel amazing after showering and laying in a proper bed.
Although my time in Sydney has been very short, I found it to be beautiful and have enjoyed my day here. I am hoping that I’ll be able to come back and explore more, maybe before I head home after season.
Tomorrow we have a noon flight to Auckland but because of the time change we will get in just after 5. Then the difference between home will be 21 hours ahead.
Im missing home more than I thought I would, but I am looking forward to exploring NZ and making 200 new friends in Springfield!
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