We finally made it to Sydney! Sydney is a city you hear a lot about so it was exciting to finally get there. We were dying to see the Opera House. And even more exciting, we were visiting friends there. We met two Aussie girls (Tooey & Van) while we were in Agnes Water and we made plans to hang out with them in Sydney.
In every city, Lonely Planet recommends a city walking tour. We have found that doing the walking tour gives you the lay of the land so we try to do them when we arrive in a city. The Sydney walking tour starts in Manly Beach so we headed there first. We found the information center and they pointed us in the right direction to start our walking tour. OK, Sydney Opera House, here we come!!!!
The beginning of the walk goes from the wharf along the coast. We walked by Ocean World. We walked by some lovely beaches. We walked by more beaches. We walked by some barbeques (they provide barbeques everywhere you go in Oz). We walked by some houses. We walked by more beaches. We walked through trees and up hills. We were in the freakin' bush. Where the hell is the Opera House??? About 5 km (or 3 miles) in, we abandoned our "city walk". How do you end up on a bush walk in Sydney? We found our way out of the jungle and hopped on a bus back to our campervan.
The next day, we met up with Tooey and Van. Unfortunately, we couldn't hang out and go sightseeing like we wanted to because we had to go get our visas to India. Our flight out of Australia was in two weeks so we had to apply for our visas right away. Australia isn't like the U.S. where they give you the visa the same day. And expedited service doesn't exist in Australia.
Tooey and Van dropped us off at the visa services office. Jigar and I went, got our number, and filled out our applications. They told us that we had to have our itinerary to get the visa, even though that wasn't listed online or on any of the documents. We found a nearby internet cafe and printed out our itinerary. We also had to buy an envelope so they could send us the passports when they were done. Luckily, it takes a long time for your number to come up at the visa office, so we were able to do all this and still come back before it was our turn.
As we were sitting around and reading the applications, it came to our attention that the visas take 5 to 15 BUSINESS days to process. Holy crap! Our flight was in 2 weeks. When it was our turn at the window, we told the gentleman our situation, he assured us that the visas never really take that long and that ours would be done in time. Phew! We couldn't have the passports sent to us since we didn't know where we'd be, but we called Tooey and Van and they graciously agreed to pick them up on our behalf.
By the time we finished with all of that, it was late afternoon. Tooey and Van had been waiting around for us. We walked toward Circle Quay (pronounced "Circle Key") to meet up with them. We walked through The Rocks, which is a lovely section of Sydney, and met them by the harbor. We could see the Opera House across the way. FINALLY!!! Two days in Sydney and we finally saw the Opera House. It was really pretty. We took lots of pictures in front of it.
The next day, Tooey had to work and Van had plans, so we were on our own. We headed into the city to get a closer look at the Opera House. We took the tour of the inside and it was worth it! We got to see all four of the theaters. There are two smaller theaters that are designed for dramatic plays and there are two larger theaters, one for operas and one for concerts. They are each designed for the exact acoustics needed for their intended purpose. Not only is the structural engineering that precise, but the architecture of the building is like a sculpture. It is really quite an amazing structure. We were lucky that when we saw the concert hall, they were rehearsing for that night's show so we got to watch for a few minutes. It is an incredibly beautiful hall.
After the Opera House, we walked across the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge. We aren't really sure why Sydneysiders (as they are called) are so all about their bridge. Its alright, but the Brooklyn Bridge is better ;)
We walked back to the Opera House out front. It was really beautiful to eat our tunafish and look up at the world famous Sydney Opera House.
The next day, we caught up with Tooey and Van again. We felt like we had seen almost everything that we wanted to see in Sydney... except for Bondi Beach. It was still early spring in Sydney so it was a bit chilly, but we went to the beach anyway. We laid on the beach and chatted and slept and ate and drank. And somewhere along the way, Tooey decided that we should go swimming. It was a little bit chilly to be laying on the beach, but the water was frickin' freezing!!! It was cold in the beginning, but it was really fun once you got used to it. And we didn't see any of Australia's famous great white sharks so that was good.
After the beach, Tooey and Van took us to one of their favorite Thai restaurants in Newtown. The food was delicious and the neighborhood was cute. We decided to spend the night there rather than driving back to Manly. Tooey and Van were really tired so they wanted to go home. It seemed like it was a bit early (about 9:30), but we understood. We drove to an internet cafe so we could do some blogging and check our email. When we got there, they told us they were closing in 30 minutes. But the sign on the door said they were open until 11:30. Why were they closing an hour early? We asked them what time it was. They said 11:00. It turns out that it isn't the same time in New South Wales (the state Sydney is in) as it is in Queensland (where we had come from). Queensland doesn't do Daylight Savings time.
The next day, Tooey invited us to her house for a proper Aussie barbeque. Since Tooey & Van are Vietnamese, it was an Aussie barbeque with a little Asian flava. Delicious!!! Tooey, her family, and Van were so sweet... Not only did they put on this barbeque but they served no beef and had lots of gluten free options for me. It was very thoughtful and if you have ever seen an Aussie selection of food (every item has beef AND gluten), you will know what a grand gesture this was. After being total gluttons and filling our bellies full of scrumpious barbeque, we spent the night at Tooey's house. It was really nice to sleep in a bed and to have a bathroom to use in the morning. The next morning, we set out for the Blue Mountains.
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