I Slept 31 hours in a 36 hour period... What?!

We arrived back to the dorms Monday morning at 8AM. We were all exhausted (maybe because we had already been up for 6 hours!!), but there was so much left to do. After class, we immediately jumped on a bus and headed towards downtown Sydney. We had booked a nighttime Harbor Bridge Climb. We arrived at the Bridge climbers, watched a short video, and got suited up. We were given a jumpsuit and wind pants to put on. Next, we got our harness, fleece jacket and rain shell (both in pouches attached to our backs), gloves, beanie hats, flash lights attached to our heads, and radios. Our climb group was small, consisting of twelve (7 of which were my class). We went through a short training session, blew into a breathalyzer, and set out for the bridge. We were attached to the side of the bridge by this harness contraption. The climb to the top took around an hour. The first part was just walking along a catwalk towards the middle of the bridge. Then we started the actual climb; at one point we were climbing up steep stairs with cars passing by on either side. I was in heaven!!! The view from the top was simply breathtaking. Sydney is a gorgeous city, but becomes breathtaking at night. Our guide pointed out all the important places around Sydney. We weren’t allowed to take our cameras up, which really bummed me out because the photos would have been amazing. After our climb was over (the whole experience took almost 4 hours!!), we met up with Jo and Tommy (who were lame and didn’t want to climb!) and headed to dinner. We had originally planned on going to the Ice Bar after dinner, but we were too tired. Instead, we called it a night and headed back to the dorms.

We had morning class again on Tuesday because we had a field trip with Pete again. After a quick lunch, we headed downtown to Hyde Park to meet Pete in front of another War Memorial. Upon arrival, we discovered the inside of the Memorial was closed. We talked outside the Memorial instead before heading to another memorial, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Barracks, and the Famine Memorial. After our walking history lesson, we headed to the downtown Hilton to go to the Marble Bar. The Marble Bar opened in 2002 and cost $200 million in renovations. The entire bar (floor, ceiling, bar, pillars) is made out of custom chiseled marble. After a few drinks, we went down to Circular Quay (the Sydney Harbor) and went in search of a nice seafood dinner. We were successful in our search, eating at the Waterfront (obviously right on the water with an amazing view of both the bridge and Opera House). Sarah and I said our goodbyes after dinner and headed to the Opera House. We had tickets to see an Opera: Masters of ??????. I’m not going to comment on the actual Opera itself, but the experience was interesting. After the Opera, we met back up with our group and headed to City Extra for dessert pancakes. The guys had found this place the first weekend in Sydney (when Sarah and I were in New Zealand) and it’s all they ever talk about. They are famous for their chocolate pancakes, apples and cinnamon pancakes, and banana pancakes. I wasn’t sure how I would like a flavored pancake with ice cream on top, but I now know why they are famous!! After our dessert, we headed to Minus 5, The Coolest Experience in Sydney (aka, the Ice Bar). The bar was actually closed when we arrived, but they opened it up just for us. Nothing like renting out the Ice Bar in Sydney!! We got suited up with parkas and gloves and headed into the “freezer”. Everything is made of ice; from the walls, tables, chairs, bar, and glasses. They only served vodka drinks since vodka doesn’t freeze. Because of the temperature, you are only allowed to be inside for 30 minutes. By the end of the night, I was exhausted and not feeling the best. I’ve had a cold that comes and goes since before our New Zealand trip and it was in full flame! I’m writing this portion on Wednesday morning and I have no voice. Being sick and climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge at night and then going to the Ice Bar the next night = not smart!!

After class and a short nap, Sarah and I went downtown to meet Erin and do some shopping. We hit up the UGG and Apple Stores before I decided to hop in a cab and come back to the dorms. I still wasn’t feeling the best and wanted to lay down again. From the 36 hour time period (5:30 PM Wednesday until 5:30 AM Friday, I slept 31 of those hours!! Guess I was really not feeling well huh? I wanted to make my way to Bondi Beach and Paddy’s Markets sometime Wednesday or Thursday, but neither happened.

We woke up early Friday morning for a day tour to the Blue Mountains. Jo had missed the group tour since she was in Melbourne with us the weekend before and booked had booked our day tour at the last minute. After arrive 25 minutes late (whoops!), we were on our way. Our first stop was to Featherdale Wildlife Park, an interactive zoo. This was the first zoo we were able to get up close and personal to a Koala! Seriously, although they are by far one of the cutest animals in Australia, they look fake!! I would like to take one home, but we have heard they are really mean. We were also able to pet and feed more kangaroos. Sarah was a little scared of them this time after hearing Ben had been kicked by one last weekend! (I would have paid money for someone to get that on video!!) After Featherdale, I’ve decided I would like a pet wombat. They are so ugly they are cute! We left Featherdale and headed towards the “mountains” (to anyone that lives in a country with actual mountains, they are more like giant hills). Our first stop was to take a short hike to a gorgeous waterfall. From there, we headed to Echo Point to get a view of the famous Three Sisters rock formation. After a quick lunch, we fell for the tourist trap of Scenic World. There were three different “rides” offered to get different views of the park. Naturally, we rode all three!! We left Scenic World and headed to another hiking spot. After this hike, our guide set up a picnic with tea, coffee, and “biscuits” (aka: cookies). We left the Blue Mountains and headed for the Sydney Olympic Park. We ran out of time and didn’t get to explore the park anymore than we did when we went for the Rugby game. It was kind of nice to see it in the daylight, however. We caught a ferry out of the park and headed back into Sydney. Our group had planned on doing a big pub crawl through the Rocks area, but Sarah and I opted out since we had another early, busy day on Saturday.

We had booked a wine tour through the same tour company as our Blue Mountains trip. We had the same guide and an American family was on this trip with us as well. We headed straight out of the city and towards Hunter Valley. The first winery we did a tasting at was Savannah Estates. I’ve never tasted so many wines at one winery before! If my count was correct, I’m pretty sure we tried 12 of their wines. I’m starting to appreciate red wines more after this trip. Next, we visited the Iron Gate Winery, where we did another tasting (again, 9 wines?!) and learned the wine making process. I liked the look of this winery the best. It just looked like what a cute, traditional winery should look like.. not too commercialized. We left Iron Gate and headed towards Hunter Valley Village, a little shopping village, for lunch. Sarah and I ate as fast as possible so we could squeeze in some shopping (naturally.. J). After lunch, we headed to WINERY to do a formal cheese tasting before tasting more wine. This was a really different winery because it was built for entertainment. In addition to the Smelly Cheese Shop and winery, there was also a restaurant and a huge grassy lawn designed for concerts. Some big name stars have actually been there to perform. Our last stop of the day was the Ernest Hill winery. We only tasted around 6 wines, but I didn’t really care for any of them. The two white wines were both 2009 and I found that really strange. They didn’t have much flavor, but I felt they had potential if they had been aged longer. All in all, it was a great day and Sarah and I came back with a few bottles to enjoy later!

We spent Saturday night packing up to leave Sydney. I’m not that sad to be leaving and heading towards warm weather again!!! Cairns is supposed to be a really touristy town near the Great Barrier Reef. I’m excited to get some sun, snorkel, and skydive!!