Our
second day in Sydney was just as jam-packed as the first so I was pretty happy
to have started the day out right (meaning I got 7 hours of sleep while my
fellow travelers got about three). I made a new friend, Barbara, in the
bathroom (yes, this is a thing girls do anywhere). She heard my accent (that I
apparently have) and we got to talking about where we were from and what we
were doing in Sydney. Turns out she’s actually from Canberra and is part of the
choir and they were there competing this weekend. I was also able to grab a
“recovery breakfast”, as they called it, which was a bacon and egg sandwich.
But not just any sandwich, an Australian style one, which means a toasted sub
bun, thick bacon, and nice, runny eggs. Even though I didn’t need any
recovering, it was still delicious.
Our
first stop today was the Sydney Tower Eye. Similar to the Sears Tower or the Skylon
Tower in Niagara Falls, the tower eye is the tallest building in the city and gives
you a 360-degree view of the entire city.
It was so gorgeous! Seeing the harbor
and the bridges and all the islands around us was amazing. I spent awhile just
sitting on the window bench and enjoying the view. It was only the morning
though and we had a lot to do.
After
the tower we made our way to circular quay (yes, that did rhyme) and caught the
“Famous Manly ferry” which takes you off the mainland and over the to the
island of Manly beach. It’s about a 30-minute boat ride and it gives you a
great view of the opera house from the water, as well as the coast further away
from the center of the city and the islands around. There were so many boats
out as well, it was a blast just watching the sailboats and speedboats race
around each other. Fun story- we decided it would be a good idea to sit in the
very front of the boat in the open part in order to get a view of everything.
This was going wonderfully until we got closer to the rest of the boats and the
water started getting a little rough. The waves were fun to ride on until they
came splashing over the side of the boat and drenched us. Of course I had just
moved to the outside edge to get a better view. Good thing it was hot out and I
needed a cool down but for the rest of the day, my hair looked like a hot mess.
Manly
Beach may have been one of my favorite spots so far. I am such a sucker for
beach towns and Manly was the best one I’ve ever been to. It was quite similar
to South Haven or Grand Haven back home but bigger and with gorgeous weather. There
were shops all along the cobblestone and it led straight from the harbor to the
beach, which had soft sand and the most beautiful teal blue water I’ve ever
seen.
I could’ve spent the rest of the trip just on that beach. But, I tore
myself away to explore a little more, which I’m so glad I did because I found a
small street fair with the cutest little booths. I swear I bought something
from at least four of them. It would’ve been more if I could’ve gotten all the
stuff home. I wanted to stay on Manly for the rest of the day but I knew there
was more in Sydney I wanted to see as well. Two days just isn’t enough to do
the area but it’s a start. I grabbed a quick Subway lunch (just to get a taste
of home) and caught the ferry back.
This was the first time I had been
on my own in Sydney. Canberra was easy now, especially compared to Sydney, but
I was pretty impressed with myself that I knew what wharf to get to and what
bus to get on next. Once I was back on the mainland, I headed down to darling
harbor again, this time to check out the opposite side. I find a whole new
strip mall that we hadn’t seen and at the end was the best part: Hard Rock
Café! How could I have not thought about a big city like Sydney have an HRC?
This is the reward I get for being brave and venturing out on my own. By this
time I figured I should pull out the map and try to get back to the hostel and
in doing so I came across something even better: Marketplace City. When I first
walked in, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Imagine a giant
warehouse and it’s just rows and rows and rows of different booths, similar to
comic con or craft shows. Now double it and put a second floor on it and that’s
the marketplace. There were hundreds of booths ranging from food to clothes to
souvenirs to Halloween costumes to wigs to electronics. I was on stimulation
overload. I was also in love. If you haven’t realized at this point, there was
just no stopping the shopping. I could go to that place every weekend for the
next year and still find things I want to buy. I walked as much of the first
floor as I could before it was getting close to our bus time and I had to
leave. Keeping a mental note of it though for if I ever get the chance to come
back. By the time I walked back and got all my stuff around, it was time to get
on the bus.
