A Rainy Day in Sydney 2.13.11

At this point we had been in Manly for almost a week. I was still learning all the differences between cultures. Believe it or not, it is actually hard to pick out things that are different. For example, it took me nearly a week to notice that there are no "junker" cars here. They are all extremely nice, mostly new, and no rust. Top, mint condition. Why?  I really can't tell you... Just kinda interesting!  Cuz in America, it's about 50/50. Here, you stop and stare if it is an "older" car. Random and weird... I know.

Saturday came and Liza and I had every intention to head for Sydney for the day. But somebody *ahem* had a little bit too much fun the night before and slept all day. But it was actually a blessing in disguise. I was able to chill out, catch up on postcards, start my mountain of blogging (yep, still catching up in April...), and catch up on some much needed sleep.

But when Sunday rolled around - I had cabin fever!  It was a little bit rainy and overcast, but that never hurt anybody. Adventure to Sydney was a GO!!!  We were total tourists as we walked up to the "ticket window" for the ferry. We didn't even know what to ask for... so we mumbled some things and the nice man figured out what we needed. And we embarked on our first ferry adventure.



Tourists on the ferry. :o)

I will never forget the feeling that I had riding the ferry, making the turn and seeing the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge with my own 2 eyes. This was it. This was the moment that it hit me - I was living my dream... I was living in Australia. This electrifying jolt of excitement went through me. I was humbled. I was thankful. And I was in disbelief. Wow. What a sight. Even on a gloomy day - it was breath-taking.



This was it... what I had worked so hard for.
[And what I will be paying for til I'm 84.]

 We got off the boat and were rushed along by a mad dash of people that knew where they were going. Since we had a little less than no idea... we followed the crowd. We had no direction for the day; just to get lost in Sydney and see what we could see. One of the first things we did was of course take a ton of pics in front of the Opera House. Then we enjoyed the aboriginal talent:

We walked (what we know now to be) George Street. We ventured The Rocks. We found shops. And checked out restaurants. We admired the architecture. And somehow made it to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  It started raining... but that didn't stop us from making our way across.


The day I discovered that I *LoVe* rainy days on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge does not seem that long, but it's nearly a mile! We took our sweet time; The bridge gave us an ideal spot for taking pictures of the city. On our way back down we saw it all - a bride, an ice cream truck, view point for a cruise ship, side streets filled with Italian people, and a "secret" stairway. The afternoon slid by.

On the ferry ride home, we snuck one more pic of the Opera House and made it back in time for free dinner.

Perfect way to put a close to my "Christmas vacation". Classes, ICMS style, were starting bright and early.