A city named Sidney

I wasn't sure if I'd like Sydney before I arrived. I pictured it as being shiny and smooth and modern. In fact, it was really old and full of the stories of convicts and death. I was enamored by the beautiful coastal views and by the new mixed with the old. The Rocks, an area first settled by convicts, which boasts original buildings from the settlers, held the most interest. It was there that I heard the stories of folks both good and bad. Seeing the Sydney Opera House for the first time, I was struck at how plain and yet beautiful it was. Did you know the roof is made of tiles, plain old white tiles......and yet it's stunning. While I was there I took a free walking tour as well as a free night tour of the Rocks. The tour guide was local but her mother was from Calgary. She had started the free walking tour company on her own; pretty cool to have the owner as a guide. While I was exploring the area I passed a candy store making candy from scratch. The "candy makers" were so friendly that I stopped to talk to them for awhile and ended up staying to watch them make a new kind of candy. It was so cool, but they made a mistake and so I was lucky enough to get free candy! Bags of it...for Amber of course! :-) I was also presented with a candy rose! Yum!

My hostel was an old building but was nice and new inside. Many of the other "travellers" actually lived there so the vibe was a bit different. I didn't mind though. I stayed in an 8 bed dorm with some extremely messy girls. In fact, one day I got back from exploring to find a note on my door saying anything left on the floor would be thrown out. Haha.......it still didn't look clean but it was much improved after that.

After exploring much of the city I took the train to the Blue Mountains. A two hour train ride and you find yourself in a small town. A short tram ride through the town and you are at the lookout for Three Sisters. The forest in the valley went on as far as the eye could see. It was stunning and felt a little like home. The trees looked like evergreens and were all different shades of green. I walked down to one of the sisters and started down a staircase. A child running by said there were 3000 stairs and we were at 112. This is when I decided to take a different route. I turned around and headed back up where I took Prince Henry's Cliff walk, which seemed like a much better option. It was a 3 km walk without any stairs. Though you stay on the top of the valley, the views are amazing. I was surrounded by beautiful trees, birds singing, and sunshine. It was a great day. When I reached the end there were 2 options. One was to turn around and go back the way you came or you could walk along the road. I chose the latter and walked through the little town.

My friend, Sinead, had recommended a coastal walk so I went to the East end of Sydney and walked from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. It was an amazing walk along the coast. High up above the crashing waves you could see the beautiful beaches both ahead and behind you. The walk took about 2 hours and was breath taking.  It's winter in Australia, which is about 9-12 degrees in Sydney, so it was warm enough to take off my jacket. It was sunny and windy but so peaceful, despite the paths being filled with people. I had packed a lunch and enjoyed the salty sea air as I ate my sandwich. Afterwards I took the ferry to Manly and the famous beach there. I ran into a couple I'd met on the train ride to the mountains and we chatted for a bit. As the sun began to set, bright colorful birds began to land in the trees, making a racket! But they were beautiful! The ferry ride home was a whole new experience. Because it was dark you couldn't see anything outside. The waves were huge that day and the ferry was flung from side to side. My stomach dropped many times and I wasn't sure if I was going to live. It was that scary!

On my last day in the big city I took the free shuttle to the pier and walked through the Devonian Gardens. It was a lovely day and I took my time wandering the park. After my walk back to the bus, along the water, I prepared for the airport. I was so delighted with my time in Sydney and would love to visit again.