I landed in Sydney late on Thursday evening. I was supposed to get a shuttle to the hostel I was staying at, but because it was so late at night the shuttle had stopped running. So instead, I took the train. The hostel was located in Kings Cross, not the nicest part of town, but I felt safe all of the time. Since I had class that morning, and had traveled I was fairly tired, so after checking in, getting my linens and making my bed, I crashed for the night.
Friday morning I got up early and met up with the other two girls that I had planned the trip with. They got in on Wednesday and were staying in a different room. Our plan was to head into the Blue Mountains for the day. So we had an early start in order to catch an early train ride up into the mountain town of Katoomba. Now, the fun thing about hostels, or backpackers, is that you meet so many other travelers. So two German girls and a guy from Jersey City made the trip with us. After and hour train ride we arrived in Katoomba. We went straight to the Trolley Tours office and booked out tickets for the Trolley Tour and for Scenic World.
The Trolley Tour started off in the city of Katoomba and showed us different spots like the Carrington Hotel which is the highest point of Katoomba, and other shops in the town. You can hop on and off of the Trolley whenever you like, so we decided to get off at Gordon Falls because we wanted to hike around the mountain range a little. The first thing that we saw when we got onto the hiking trail was Mt. Solitary which is the picture above. Gorgeous right? The Blue Mountains is really a big canyon, like the Grand Canyon but nowhere near as deep. We walked from the Gordon Falls all the way to Echo Point. It was a beautiful hike with lots of lookouts and breath-taking scenery. The whole hike took about 2 and a half hours and we got to Echo Point just as the rain started. We walked through the Prince Henry Cliffs, the Leura Cascades and The Three Sisters which is the most famous thing of the Blue Mountains. Really The Three Sisters are three small "peaks" off of the side of a cliff. The cool thing about The Three Sisters is the legend about them:
The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.
After we took lots and lots of pictures at Echo Point we got back on the trolley and headed to Scenic World. Scenic World is a series of rides that takes you around the canyons. First you take the Skyway which is a cable car across the canyon. The car also has a glass bottom so your can look down the entire way across. Once across, we took the steepest and oldest railway down the canyon. No joke, it is in the Guinness Book of World Records. The ride isn't very long, it only takes about 2 minutes, it is 415 meters long with a 52 degree incline at the steepest point. The guy driving was so nice that he gave our group a few free rides on it was well.
At the bottom of the canyon after the railway ride there is a boardwalk that leads you through the canyon and tells about the history, and the old coal mine that was in the canyon. To get back up to the top of the canyon, we took a cable car. And thus ended the rides at Scenic World. We got back on the Trolley and drove back to the Katoomba train station.
We caught the train back to Sydney and all of us were so tired that everyone passed out on the ride back into the city. Back at the hostel we had an Australian Sausage Sizzle and chilled with some new friends before calling it a night.
Saturday was another early morning, this time we took the train to Circular Quay. From the train station as soon as we got off the train, the Sydney Harbour (Aussie Spelling) Bridge was to our left, the Opera House to our left, and in the middle was the harbour with boats and cruises and the most beautiful glistening blue water. I felt like a kid at a candy store, or at Disney World and immediately started snapping pictures. I was truly in awe. We walked over to the Opera House first where I could not stop taking pictures. You have no idea how magnificent it is until you are standing there looking at one of the most complicated piece of architecture in the world. The weather was brilliant and the sun reflected of the tile roof onto the water.
Tearing ourselves away from the Opera House was hard but we had lots to do. Next we ventured to the opposite side of the harbour to The Rocks. The Rocks is a historic area, the first place that was settled in Sydney. The entire area has so much character in the buildings and layout and it is so much fun to walk around. They also have lots of markets and shops to stroll through.
We were then planning on hoping on a ferry to sail around the harbour when my cell phone beeped from a text message. Now I do have some friends, so receiving texts is not entirely uncomon. However, when the number starts with 303 and 045 that is something to make you think twice. It turned out that non other than Mr. Giancola (neighbor from home) had just landed in Sydney on business and was having lunch on the Opera House Promenade. He had texted my father telling him he had just landed in Sydney and my dad had told him that I was there. Talk about a small world indeed. So I ventured over and had a lovely chat with Mr. G. It was wonderful to see a familar face so far away from home. A little bizarre, but wonderful.
Next, we made our way to the Sydney Tower. Basically, think of the Seattle Space Needle, but in Sydney Australia. You can see for miles from the top and the weather was totally clear so we got some great shots from the top. By the time we left it was time to start getting ready for the big rugby game that night, so we headed back to our hostel, changed and got ready and headed to the stadium.
The biggest rivalery game, the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies took place at the ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park. Yes we got to see a rugby match at the same place that the Opening Ceremonies took place in 2000. It was very cool. And the game was even better. It started with the most intimidating two minutes of my entire life when the All Blacks took the field for the haka. For those of you who don't know what it is, YouTube it. It will terrify you. The game was just as epic. The Wallabies were leading most of the game but it ended in the last 15 minutes when the All Blacks scored two TRYs (kinda like touchdowns). The final score was 23 to 22 All Blacks. We lost by one point. It was sad, but still, to be at that game was amazing.
Again, it was a long night, so falling into bed that night felt really good.
Sunday was my last day in Sydney. I spent most of the day lying on the ever famous, Bondi Beach watching the Festival of the Winds. Tons of kites filled the sky and it was lovely to watch. Finishing the day off with a walk around Paddington, and then it was time to head back to the airport.
I had the best weekend ever and saw some of the most incredible sights. I can not wait to go back and play tour guide for my parents. Hope everything is well back home. Until next time, Cheers!
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