Sydney

Opera House: I did not go inside the Opera House, but this staple of Sydney was seen plenty during my Study Abroad.  It houses mostly musical performances, in which Carrie Underwood performed at the Opera House while the group was in Sydney. 

Harbour Bridge: Another essential of Sydney is the Harbour Bridge.  Being up on the bridge, by day or night, is a spectacle by itself.  Seeing Sydney from this iconic bridge is chilling.  Some of my group mates did a bridge climb, but I decided not to.

IMAX theatre:  The IMAX theatre in Darling Harbour is the largest IMAX theatre in the world.  The group and I saw The Dark Knight Rises.  It was the Friday before the group left to go to Cairns. 

Patty’s Market: Since Australia has a fat tax; the cheap food to feed ourselves was fresh produce.  At Patty’s Market, it had heaps of produce and other fresh food such as fish.  From Wednesdays to Sundays, the market is open.  There are plenty of souvenir shops as well.  The Market was in Sydney’s Chinatown, so the shop owners tended to be Chinese.  A characteristic that is very common among these shop owners was their ability to bargain for selling merchandise and produce.

 

Royal Botanical Gardens: This large and beautiful garden had all kinds of wildlife.  Plants of many species and from all over were seen, but even some spiders made webs within the trees.  One of the iconic trees in Australia is the Wollemi Pine.  This pine tree was found in the wild, in which many thought the tree was extinct.  This tree has existed since the dinosaurs roamed the earth!

 

Bondi Beach: This highly visited beach is absolutely beautiful.  It was here that many members of the Study Abroad group surfed at.  I even took the opportunity to surf here, in which I picked up on it pretty quickly.

 

Manly Beach: The beach that is quieter than Bondi brought an amazing atmosphere.  Manly had plenty of beach volleyball courts (yes, I played), crystal-clear blue water, waves to surf on, and enough tourism to keep one entertained for hours.  I thoroughly enjoyed Manly Beach.    

 

Olympic Park: This part of Sydney was delightful.  The many areas of Olympic Park that I saw included ANZ stadium, the Aquatic Centre, Hockey Centre (yes, Field Hockey), Tennis Centre, Golf Centre, and the Sports Hall.  Unfortunately, I did not get into the Sports Centre.  The layout of Olympic Park was simply awesome with the different sculptures and engravings celebrating the Olympics.  It was at ANZ stadium that the group and I saw a rugby match.  The HSBC Waratahs faced off against the Canberra Brumbies, in which the favored Brumbies defeated the hometown Waratahs.

 

Nightlife: I did not go out as much as other individuals, but I tried it for the experience.  One of the places the group and I went to was the Strike bowling alley.  It was a typical bowling alley, except with an alcoholic purchase meant a free game.  Some of the group members paid for enough alcohol to get a couple of free games for everyone.  Another place that I went to was the Sydney Tower.  Looking out and seeing Sydney at night was a treat in itself.  I also went to a few bars without having alcohol (The Three Monkeys and The Scary Canary), but it just wasn’t it for me.  The night I went to The Scary Canary was when a foam party was taking place along with flickering lights that a sober person could care less about.