Sydney in a whirlwind

Morning started quite early today, and it was lightly raining. We got on a motorcoach and headed into the heart of the city.

We went to McQuarie's (sp?) point and chair, which had a beautiful view of the brige and the opera house. Then, we took a short walk around the Gap (not to be confused with the store). It is the point where the Pacific ocean meets with the harbour. Quite high up, and reminded me a bit of the cliffs in ireland.

We then went to Bondi beach (famous for being the first beach with the "sydney lifeguard flags" and the beach volleyball at the olympics. The beach was huge, incredible, and pretty windy/rainy/cold. The water was actually pretty warm though, and the hot chocolate amazing.

We then moved on to the Sydney tower, where we went up for pretty great views - although it felt like we were on quite a slant. When we had finished there, we went for lunch at the biggest food court I've ever seen...it had every kind of food you could imagine in one place - vietemese, japanese, thai, indian, mexican, american, and of course, the staples: McDonalds, KFC, Subway etc.

After lunch we went to the National Opal Museum, where we learned about all the different kinds and how it is mined. Aparently, there are so many other kinds than the one we get in our rings. They were quite pricy, but really beautiful and many people bought some unique pieces of jewelry here.

Sydney Harbour Cruise was next, and though it was still rainy and wet, it was a nice way to see the harbour. We finished off at Wildlife world, where we saw many of the world's most dangerous spiders and snakes, as well as a supercroc, bats, kookaburras, and other native Australian animals. Since it was still raining, we put off the walk through the rocks 'til tomorrow. Instead, many of us are going to see Part II of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which we are quite excited about).

Tomorrow and Sunday are free days, so everyone's schedule's will be different. Many of us are hitting up the markets, especially since it is Saturday - when the best stuff is out. From there, we'll see where the day takes us. On Sunday, Morgan, Payton, Kara, Dustyn, Corrina and I are doing the Sydney Bridge climb. Others are going to beaches, some shopping, and whereever else they decide.

Because we only have free days left, this will be my last post, except maybe to say we made it in LA. Thanks for reading, hope it has been helpful and that you've all enjoyed it. It's been a blast!

Goodbye from Australia,
Lori